Overrated and overhyped

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Biographical films tend to be respectful to the historical figures that they describe. Even when they describe complex and controversial characters they try to explain and to put in context the motivation of deeds which in the perspective of history seem evil. Paolo Sorrentino's 'Il Divo' is quite the contrary, it is a negative biography about a character who dominated the Italian politics for most of the second part of the 20th century, the leader of the Christian-Democratic Party and seven-times Prime Minister of Italy, Giulio Andreotti. The film does not lack complexity - quite the contrary - and the historical context of the 80s and 90s is described in detail, but the effect is willingly opposite than in usual biographies. Even political actions which would have seen candid or neutral seem to catch a strong significance and are seen through the perspective of the corruption and Mafia-relations which seem to have dominated Italian political life of the period.My knowledge about the Italian politics is too superficial to make a definite judgment about the correctness of the facts presented on screen. What I can say after seeing the film is that it does not seem to pretend to be objective. Even if there is no explicit statement, there is neither any positive angle we brought into the film or positive dimension that is not questioned. Even the relationship with his wife ('I knew all these years what kind of man I married') or helping the poor (which looks more like a political exercise deprived of sincerity). There are however many other scenes (like the repeated walk on empty streets surrounded by cohorts of security people, the reception after his last nomination as Prime Minister) which describe not only the outer-worldness of the man, but also of the whole system.Even more amazing is the fact that Andreotti was alive when this film was made (he actually died about a month ago) and has seen at least part of the film, allegedly walking out after a while. So this is not only a biography, but a pamphlet directed against a living politician. Andreotti, by the way, was no stranger to the Italian cinema industry, he played an important role in establishing the rules that protected the local industry against foreign (especially Hollywood) imports in the 50s, but also the establishment of a de-facto censorship over the content of the productions which was in place for many decades. Is this film also kind of a revenge of the now free industry over this character? Maybe.To a very large extent 'Il DIvo' relies on the extraordinary acting performance of Toni Servillo. He makes one of these creations which in time tend to superpose and replace the visual representation we have about the real-life person. Great acting indeed, but do we end by understanding better Giulio Andreotti the man? I doubt it. Paolo Sorrentino certainly knows how to construct complex characters which do not show easily their intense internal beings. Looking now retrospectively he did the same thing in This Must Be the Place (which he made later, but I saw it before). He does not however serve the viewers with ready prepared answers about the motivation of his heroes. I knew very little about Andreotti before seeing this film, I know many more facts now, but the man remains a mystery.

Andreotti was a man who never showed any emotions, if not a caustic sense of humour. He was powerful, but he was the head of a minority faction of the Christian Democrats. His power was hidden, but he always stood up to help his friends. Vatican, Mafia, Secrets Services and Dirty Money. But not for him. Although I was always disgusted as an Italian by what he represented, I always felt that he was serving a purpose and that his acts fitted Machiavelli's quote "The end justifies the means". Just a feeling, because I never knew what "the end" actually was. Surely this man was the anti-Berlusconi. Andeotti didn't like how he was portrayed, and kept a grudge. The film is great, because it captures the essence of the man and of the politician and Sorrentino's technique is one of a kind. But it's not just about Giulio. His men are such strong characters. Paolo Cirino Pomicino always introduced by a samba is pure genius, unfortunately non-Italians will not be able to appreciate. Salvo Lima's dark presage of the Mafia closing in on promises that could not be delivered counters that. And Franco Evangelisti, who took care of his electoral stronghold in non-urban Lazio, could only be portrayed as colourless as he was. And then the highlight: the kiss with Toto' Riina, the savage and cruel head of Mafia, on which the Italian media have focused so much and for so long. It was not easy to make such film, but Sorrentino's ability to mix different genres, the use of music and photography, and the much needed dose of laughs have delivered a masterpiece.

I'm sure if I were raised in Italy and paid attention to Italian politics day in and day out all of what transpires in Il Divo would be no less than engrossing. The story of Androetti, the head of a government that went for seven administrations and then went on to run for President has some really fascinating things to it. One of those is seeing just how the parliament works in those scenes midway through the picture and how the country actually chooses its president, which is so far removed from the US democratic process it's hard to fathom. And I also admired how the actor playing Androetti so got into this kind of quietly conniving politician, a man who believed that politics was everything and yet would never get passionate enough to raise his voice above a whisper. Somewhere inside of him a Dick Cheney is rumbling, perhaps.But the problem in watching the film if you don't pay attention to the Italian politics of the period, or just in general, is that the filmmakers lose you fairly quickly. I usually find myself a viewer who doesn't like to be spoon-fed information very simply, but this is on the opposite end of the cannon where only a few real details are clear enough and then the rest comes whizzing by at a quick clip (and quick indeed as the camera style is akin to the operatic nature of Scorsese, only not as talented or focused). Names of characters keep coming up as title cards, and except for a couple of names like "The Lemon" (Androetti's right-hand man), none of them really stick out, and the incidents keep piling up without any real connection. At some point the basic story does reveal itself and holds some interest, but there's a disconnect between many scenes too, and a sense of cross-cutting done a few times (i.e. the horse race scene crossed with a shooting) comes off as unimaginative.It's not a waste of time though if you're totally ignorant about Italy's political structure and brash sense of the power dynamic. But it's not one that I particularly enjoyed, either, and its lack of a connection with the mounting details made it harder to appreciate.

This is one of those movies where you need to be up for active entertainment (read: awake and willing to process data and moments quickly). For the very same reason some people give this movie bad reviews as they are upset that the Director (Sorrentino) does not bother with explaining the history of Italian Politics after World War II and the influence Andreotti had on this. If he had to do such for an unknown to understand the story line, the movie would be one hour longer or it would become a pointless exercise and most likely a tiring one for most of the audience. This movie is made for an Italian speaking audience with knowledge of Italian Politics - not a Hollywood blah blah movie.Personally, I was a little familiar with the background of Italian Politics but spent a significant amount of time after the first viewing to learn more about entities such as the P2 (Porpaganda due) lodge, Gladio (NATO "Stay behind" organisation), The main characters from the Christian Democrat party as well as a few gentlemen from the Island of Sicily. In light of this sin flood of information I watched the movie a second time and was frankly baffled by it's incredible way of telling such a complicated story in such short period of time.Speking only a bit Italian but coming from a non English mother tongue country I was able to understand many parts of the movie without subtitles. I am however used to reading subtitles of non-English movies, which might ruin the experience for people who are not used to such due to the speed of dialogues and the general amount of data released during the 110 minute high speed portray of much more than Il Divo Giulio himself - it is about Italy as a country...Long story short, if you appreciate Italian way of life, accept that the Mafia is something as part of their society (let it be Sicilian, Calabria or Napolitano), you enjoy style, class, quality, good food and music as well as the fact that things might just not be inside what it says on the tin then this is a movie for you. If you rather look for an easy digestible film after work, do not speak Italian and have no interest in reading subtitles, do not like ambiguity in scenes and do not like to put the movie together in your head afterwards - then this is certainly not a movie for you...If you do not know about Italian Politics and want to grasp this movie at first viewing read on the internet about Andreotti, Craxi and "the years of Lead" for 20 minutes before going to the Cinema.Enjoy.