While working as an usher, I asked a customer emerging from ‘Il Divo’ whether the film was good, he told me it was excellent. Encouraged by his enthusiastic response, I went further and asked the customer if it was funny. The customer suddenly became distressed and spoke down to me as he said that it was not funny and the subject of Giulio Andreotti, three times prime minister and Realpolitick specialist, leader of the Christian Democrat party and the silent spider at the centre of a vast conspiratorial web of shady deals, could never be funny. I was taken back and hurt, I felt certain that the film was at least somewhat comical, judging by a somewhat absurdist quality to the promotional material, but I couldn’t say anything as I had not seen the film.
I have now seen the film and can conclude that this customer was either directly connected to the real events or that he had dozed off during the film for the Il Divo that I watched had a deep satirical sense embedded in every shot and every performance. Director Paolo Sorrentino does not pay any respect to the criminal of Andreotti, not even enough to present his life is complete seriousness.
Instead Sorrentino highlights the absurdity in the behaviour of Andreotti and co, his sullen expression for every circumstance, his silence as security guards desperately try to open his locked door so that he may stroll in pouring rain, his political companions mirroring guns with their hands to greet each other, grotesque parties, and Andreotti’s run-in with a somewhat resistant cat. There is nothing human about these characters and we are asked not to identify with them in anyway. Their lives are treated merely as spectacle for us.
It is even present in Sorrentino’s stylistic choices, pairing murders with British pop music is subversive to the subject, highlighting the futility of the events, not allowing them to elevate to the level of political thriller or even historical tragedy. Even the title is somewhat comical, ‘Il Divo’ translating to ‘The God’, drawing attention to over-the-top ego of the lead character.
In composing this satire, Sorrentino seems to have had precise control on everything in every single shot of this film, it is hyper-stylised, and maybe over stylized. Other critics have compared the film to those by Quentin Tarantino but I feel the best American counterpart would be found in Wes Anderson, with a similar attention to detail and even a similar sense of humour. The film also works on somewhat surrealist undertones, we are reminded again and again that the world that these people have created for themselves is not reality, but some theatrical farce that they have crafted.
If only I had seen the film before that customer emerged, I could point that you don't have to laugh out loud to find a film funny.
