Review of Il Divo (2008) by Raffray F — 18 Jul 2009

Is this a picture about a man who is really not human, or a man who is fully human, merely putting on a facade to reap the benefits of power? We see human, and almost lovable sides of a man who has had a political reign from the early 1950's all the way up too the present. A man who has weakness, but truly, in a way, denies it, leaving no room for give or vulnerability. A line from Nietzsche's "Human, All-Too-Human, came to mind. "In every ascetic morality man adores part of himself as God and to that end needs to diabolicize the rest.".

Honestly, as somewhat of an outsider of this culture and of this country, I truly do not have enough experience and or knowledge to fully compliment on the work put forth to me last evening. I do, on the other hand have the experience to take away something, that let me digest a stylized story of power and regret. A line which was used in the movie by Giulio Andreotti himself in response to opposing politician Giancarlo Pajetta's take on power wearing people out, simply went like this. "Power wears out those who don't have it." I could not agree more, but with that form of power, and I mean absolute power, comes this route of sacrifice. And with that sincere sacrifice, possibly a life of regret. And no matter how good one is at concealing it, it still becomes apparent.

With a wonderful performance by Toni Servillo, along with a glorious ensemble cast, director Paolo Sorrentino was efficient in creating a work open for thought. A work, which at times is difficult, but leaves us and actually forces us to think. As I said, for most outsiders of this culture, it is a difficult piece of work, but whether in agreement or disagreement, one will definitely walk away with something valuable from this picture, and if not, you weren't paying attention.