Il Divo

Released Apr 24, 2009

1h 50m

Biography

History

Drama

List

92%

Tomatometer

51 Reviews

80%

Audience Score

2,500+ Ratings

Writer-director Paolo Sorrentino received the Cannes Jury Prize for his biopic of the fabled Italian politician Giulio Andreotti (Toni Servillo). The film covers a large portion of Andreotti's seven terms as prime minister of Italy, and concerns itself with the inner machinations of the man known as "Beelzebub," the intrigue surrounding the disappearance of his political enemies (including two-time prime minister Aldo Moro), and the role of the Mafia in postwar Italy.

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Critics Consensus

While the web of corruption in this Italian political thriller can be hard for a non-native to follow, the visuals and the intrigue are compelling and thrilling in equal measure.

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Jonathan F. Richards

Film.com

The film takes flight on the brilliant title performance by Tony Servillo (Gomorrah), who plays Andreotti like a mummified Alec Guinness, as if encased in layers of plaster of Paris.

Aug 23, 2009

Full Review

Peter Howell

Toronto Star

We may not know the man, but we know the dance, as seen in the highly diverting and hugely controversial Il Divo, a biopic as wly as its subject.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jul 10, 2009

Full Review

Brian Tallerico

Movie Retriever

A stunning piece of work that feels both familiar and completely unique at the same time.

Jul 10, 2009

Full Review

Jason Best

Movie Talk

A more conventional filmmaker would be defeated by Andreotti's murky history, but Sorrentino's flamboyantly Baroque approach - full of dazzling visual flourishes worthy of Scorsese in his pomp - delivers an indelible portrait.

Nov 21, 2020

Full Review

Ard Vijn

ScreenAnarchy

Sumptuous filmmaking at its most flashiest, "Il Divo" may distance some people but I found it to be riveting.

Jan 17, 2020

Full Review

PJ Nabarro

Patrick Nabarro

A clever telling of the story about the epic levels of corruption in Italian public life that found the suitably opaque, vampiric presence of Andreotti at the centre of it.

Rated: 4/5

Feb 1, 2019

Full Review

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Leaburn O

Interested because it was a Sorrentino film and it introduced me to a bit of the Andretti backstory that I was ignorantly unaware of. Unfortunately no matter how well made the film, I couldn't follow what was going on because there are hundreds of characters we're introduced to and following the convoluted plots of the magus connections was a total nightmare. That said, I got the tough gist but wasn't entirely entertained. Bought this one for £1 in a charity shop and was intrigued as this movie had entirely passed me by.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

10/10/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Toni Servillo prende i panni di uno dei capi di Stato più influenti della storia Italiana, e lo fa con una splendida performance. Si percorrono gli ultimi anni della sua presidenza, le delusioni e il castello che si sgretola; tutto accompagnato dai lucidi e taglienti commenti in prima persona di Servillo, avido osservatore e abile marionettista. Tanti personaggi intorno a lui hanno il loro spazio, mentre viene molto tralasciato tutto ciò che avvenne prima. Viene data molta più importanza all'aspetto intimo del personaggio, piuttosto che alla sua storia.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Liam D

When Italy do Political and Mafia Thrillers it's a special kind of movie and this is top class in both genres in both English and Foreign movie making

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/29/21

Full Review

Audience Member

Italian politics remain something of a difficult subject for film as it's endlessly confusing. Sorrentino narrows the focus just enough here to give you a sense of the chaotic depths of the corruption even if Andreotti remains an enigmatic figure at the end.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

For a movie where I only occasionally had a basic level of knowledge to follow what was going on-not a fault of the film's, nor of mine, but just an incompatibility of audience and art-I rarely was confused or entirely lost. As ambiguous, byzantine, and culturally contained as the political machinations may be, the story is nonetheless so compellingly filmed, convincingly performed and confidently shot, that the movie easily captures the viewer's attention and imagination, if not always their comprehension. In that way, the film in effect reflects its central subject, whose mild-mannered Machiavellianism seemed shrouded and overshadowed by the spectacle of his perpetual political prominence-"Il Divo" could just as easily be translated as "the celebrity" as it could "the divine"-the most effective way of concealing corruption being to stand in the spotlight, a point American leaders have taken note of, as well.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

nefasto r

La bellezza di questo film contrasta con la il triste fatto che è troppo simile alla realtà dei fatti.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Paolo Sorrentino

Director

Toni Servillo

Giulio Andreotti

Anna Bonaiuto

Livia Danese

Piera Degli Esposti

Signora Enea

Paolo Graziosi

Aldo Moro

Giulio Bosetti

Eugenio Scalfari

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Synopsis

Writer-director Paolo Sorrentino received the Cannes Jury Prize for his biopic of the fabled Italian politician Giulio Andreotti (Toni Servillo). The film covers a large portion of Andreotti's seven terms as prime minister of Italy, and concerns itself with the inner machinations of the man known as "Beelzebub," the intrigue surrounding the disappearance of his political enemies (including two-time prime minister Aldo Moro), and the role of the Mafia in postwar Italy.

Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Screenwriter: Paolo Sorrentino
Distributor: Music Box Films
Production Co: Indigo Films, Lucky Red, Arte France Cinema, Studio Canal, Parco Film
Genre: Biography, History, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 24, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 20, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $239.3K
Runtime: 1h 50m

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