La Grazia

Please note that the film does not have English dialogue or subtitles!

The opening film of the Venice Film Festival, La Grazia, marks the return of Grande Bellezza director Paolo Sorrentino to the top. Starring the eternally youthful Toni Servillo, it follows Mariano De Santis, a widowed Italian president grappling with moral dilemmas and mourning the loss of his wife. A judge specialising in criminal law would rather not sentence anyone, even as colleagues and political power-brokers at the very top attempt to pressure the president into doing their bidding.

Sorrentino portrays the grandeur and grandiosity of Rome in dazzlingly surreal and sensational moments. A wistful sadness at the end of an era flickers across Servillo’s face. The sharp-edged dialogue tickles the funny bone.

The cast of characters is an extraordinary parade. An ever-present bodyguard secretly slips the president a cigarette he has been promised. Straight out of Fellini’s playbook, Coco Valori (Milvia Marigliano), a lifelong socialite and close friend of the president still has the energy to criticise everyone and everything. Sorrentino poses some big questions. What meaning does a life lived ultimately have?

Mika Siltala (translated by Herman Tikkanen)