Il Divo (2008 Cannes Film Festival)

Winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2008, Il Divo is writer/director Paolo Sorrentino's highly stylized satire of Italy's culture of political corruption that takes an insidious form beneath the stoic poker face of Italy's seven-time Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti (played by Toni Servillo). At once hyperbolic and incredibly restrained, the narrative follows closely the day-to-day habits of a wicked politician who glides through the marbled corridors of power as if he were a ghost whose diabolical deeds are at all times invisible. Sorrentino's ever-moving camera captures the story's politically-charged violence and murders, overseen at a distance by Andreotti, with an air of cinematic verve that is electrifying. As a primer to modern Italian politics, "Il Divo" is like touring the subject in a candy-apple-red Ferrari. You might not learn much, but you will remember the experience.
Not Rated. 110 Mins. (B) (Three Stars)