There was a time in between00while the prospect of a new film by Italy’s favorite new son, Paolo Sorrentino, is cause for excitement. Articles like this Effects of Love (2004), A Friend of the Family (2006) and The Divo (2008) announced a mercurial talent, one who could finally hold the mantle of Italian auteur giants like Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni. But as time went on and the allure of maudlin sentimentalism became more prevalent, Sorrentino seemed to lose that original mojo – or perhaps he reworked it to the point where the films lost the edge and sincerity that made them so beloved.
La Grazia sees him reunited with his familiar and reliable leading man, Toni Servillo, this time playing the apocryphal Italian president, Mariano De Santis, a wise old owl, well-liked, but notorious for his inaction when it comes to law enforcement. He is more of a thinker than a doer, a retired executive of the type that rarely holds these positions in public office these days. We join him at home quickly during the administration as he sneaks cigarettes from the roof of his presidential palace and ponders the wider implications of a far-reaching bill that would greatly liberalize the killings in Italy.
Find out more Little White Lies
Servillo, as usual, makes a compelling lead, and somehow manages to subtly bring out the stores of intelligence and charisma hidden by this seemingly dull, dithering man. If Sorrentino has a special power as a filmmaker, it is his ability to find the best in Servillo in any kind of environment, and it is this leading performance that is completely committed and natural that combines another smooth story with a dangerous plan how the cold facts of life and death can enter the political process.
Ironically, two convicted murderers have been put forward for presidential pardons before De Santis’s retirement, and although he initially dismisses them both as mere bagatelle, he eventually realizes how their cases can help him reach an important decision about the death bill. Meanwhile, he is secretly mourning the death of his wife many months ago, and worries about finding his alleged affair, tarnishing his memory of their marriage.
Throughout the film, Sorrentino throws in a few stylistic downfalls, such as De Santis’ sudden love of hardcore hip-hop, and his hookup with an Italian astronaut living alone in space. The ISS. There are also frequent bursts of techno music, creating a sharp contrast of sound and the buttoned-down rituals of a closed-off political life. But all this movement comes as the filmmaker throws down his predictable trump cards with no real sense of what the audience is holding in their hand.
The setting of La Grazia it’s certainly interesting, and Sorrentino writes dialogue fueled by satisfying literary flourishes. Yet the film, in the end, allows for banal trite across the board, tying up many of its threads with an overly obvious or saccharine bow. Its proposed dialogue about the ethics of euthanasia and the attempts to clearly show all the sides of the intellectuals fighting, ultimately failed, as the film concludes that everything comes down to the opinion of one person (usually that of a person), and we must pray that they learn enough not to solve the balance. In addition, its portrayal of the political process as completely divorced from any modern cultural realities imbues the entire project with an air of alienating inauthenticity.
