The trailer for Il Divo. A chilling examination of power, corruption and murder in the murky world of Italian politics.
Nothing to do with Simon Cowell's operatic vocal group of the same name, Il Divo is writer-director Paolo Sorrentino's attempt to come to terms with more than four decades of upheaval in the volatile history of Italian government. The key figure here is Giulio Andreotti (Toni Servillo), a statesman of unparalleled ambiguity. Elderly and frail yet seemingly indestructible, Andreotti appears to be the effective ruler of Italy in the '70s, '80s and '90s - usually as the shadowy power behind the throne. Measured, calm, all-knowing and all-seeing, speaking only in riddles and parables, Andreotti is haunted by two things - the 1978 murder of Prime Minister Aldo Moro (Paolo Graziosi) by Red Brigade terrorists, and the spectre of his own alleged Mafia associations.Visually inventive, the film's look ranges from brilliant colours to Noir-esque shadows, its dream-like narration belying the often nightmarish events it details.