Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Paolo Sorrentino
Starring: Toni Servillo, Anna Ferzetti, Massimo Venturiello, Orlando Cinque, Milvia Marigliano
The title of Paolo Sorrentino's latest drama translates to English as "Grace." There is much grace in Sorrentino's filmmaking here, as he ditches his customary bombast to deliver his most mature film in years. Sorrentino teams up once again with his favoured leading man Toni Servillo, and he is wise enough to recognise that Servillo's subtly expressive face is his greatest asset in telling a story about the importance of reckoning with doubt.
Servillo plays fictional Italian president Mariano De Santis, who is in the final six months of his presidency. Any chance of leaving the office quietly has been scuppered by his lawyer daughter Dorotea's (Anna Ferzetti) determination that he sign a controversial bill on legalising euthanasia rather than leaving it for his successor. As a Catholic, De Santis is spiritually opposed to the bill, but he is willing to do the right thing by the Italian people. But with the public divided on the issue, De Santis fears that he will be viewed as either a "torturer" or a "murderer", depending on his decision. Also on the table are two potential presidential pardons which just happen to overlap with the subject of euthanasia. One is the case of a popular teacher who ended his wife's life after seeing her struggle with Alzheimer's. The other is a woman who killed her abusive husband, claiming that she believed he was suffering from a psychological disease and so her act should be considered euthanasia rather than murder.
Despite such heavy public burdens, the biggest weight on De Santis's shoulders comes from his obsession with learning the truth of with whom his late wife had an affair 40 years ago. His best friend, flamboyant art critic Coco (Milvia Marigliano), knows the answer but has steadfastly refused to provide it, leading De Santis to suspect the guilty party is the current Minister for Justice (Massimo Venturiello).
We've become accustomed to seeing movies set within the corridors of political power adopt the Aaron Sorkin "walking and talking" approach, all long tracking shots of besuited protagonists dashing down hallways and exchanging dialogue at the high speed of screwball comedy patter. La Grazia reminds us that in reality the world is largely run by old men who are incapable of dashing anywhere. Like the elderly De Santis, La Grazia moves at a relaxed, contemplative pace, as though wary of putting its narrative hip out of place. Sorrentino's camera spends much time gazing at the craggy face of his imperious leading man as De Santis considers his personal and political challenges while enjoying his daily cigarette, and Servillo's expressions tell us more than any three-page Sorkin monologue might.
The idea that the biggest decisions should be left to men who only have a few years left to live rather than those who will have to live with the effects of such decisions is absurd, and La Grazia mines much absurdist comedy from this irony. There is a damning sequence in which the visiting Portuguese president, looking all of a century old, is forced to walk in the rain down a red carpet that threatens to sweep him off into the air like some magical Persian rug. Servillo's face painfully acknowledges the indignity and absurdity of the occasion. In that moment we're reminded of why Trump boasts so much about his dubious fitness, because we have entrusted the governance of the world to old men who should be seeing out their days napping on a porch.
To come to a better decision on both the euthanasia bill and the pardons, De Santis explores the convicted murderers' cases. This only leads to further doubt in his mind, but this forces him to conclude that true grace comes in the recognition of doubt. For all his flaws, De Santis is wise enough to recognise that a political leader has to ultimately put their own feelings aside and decide what's best for their people. Sorrentino obfuscates just enough to prevent making it clear which side of the political divide De Santis represents, but in acting in the interests of his public rather than his politics, he is an aspirational if all too fictional politician. He'd get my vote.
La Grazia is in UK/ROI cinemas from March 20th.
