Il Divo
I had never heard of Il Divo until a few weeks ago when I read NYMags piece Five Reasons Why Paolo Sorrento Will Save World Cinema in which they compared the director to Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, and Federico Fellini. Then I read the film had won the Jury Prize at Cannes and NY Times quote, “As operatic cinema, it ranks alongside the best of Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.” As a film geek, I was sold. I had to see this movie.
Il Divo is the true story of Italian parlamentarian Giulio Andreotti who was accused of having mafia ties. The story itself can be confusing so the film begins with a dozen title cards to setup the film, which I can imagine were added for the US release. Probably due to feeling a little lost in the story as an American, I did not love the film as much as I loved the filmmaking. The music, editing, photography were completely brilliant. It was rare to see a film where the filmmaker outshined the effort while still avoiding the style over substance, but I knew I was watching a master even if this wasn’t his masterpiece.
Watch the trailer.
