Il Divo

Winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino's stylish and raucously controversial drama stars Toni Servillo (Gomorrah) in a tour-de-force performance as Giulio Andreotti, who for 50 years was Italy's most powerful and feared politician. Prime Minister no less than seven times, the real Andreotti faced accusations of conspiracy and state terror involving the Mafia, the Vatican and the secret neo-Fascist Masonic Lodge P2, and in 1996, at what is called "The Trial of the Century," Italy's legendary Senator for Life stood accused of corruption, collusion and murder. Sorrentino's frenetic and darkly humorous take on recent Italian history is part kaleidoscope and part roller-coaster ride, a storm of chaos and corruption at the center of which stands Servillo's depiction of Andreotti as a kind of deadpan vampire. As Oriana Fallaci wrote about a meeting with the real Andreotti: "True power strangles you with silk ribbons, charm and intelligence." In Italian with English subtitles. (Italy 2008) 117 min.