Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
Italy, early '90s. Calm, clever and inscrutable, politician Giulio Andreotti has been synonymous with power for decades. He has survived everything: electoral battles, terrorist massacres, loss of friends, slanderous accusations; but now certain repentant mobsters implicate him in the crimes of Cosa Nostra.
Paolo Sorrentino's stylized portrait of Giulio Andreotti is a genuinely singular work — the film's hyperkinetic editing, bold graphic compositions, and sardonic black humor create an unmistakably distinctive voice. Toni Servillo's performance as Andreotti is a masterclass in controlled, reptilian stillness, earning a well-above-average acting mark. Sorrentino and cinematographer Luca Bigazzi deliver inventive, striking imagery that elevates the political biography genre. The novelty is high because the film perfects a very specific mode of political portraiture — absurdist, operatic, and formally daring — that feels entirely its own. The plot, while covering fascinating real-world material, can feel fragmented and dense with Italian political insider references, making it harder to follow for outsiders and slightly limiting its narrative drive. The ending, featuring Andreotti's long confessional monologue, is theatrically powerful but somewhat deflates the film's prior kinetic energy into a more static register.