LA GRAZIA
After the overblown Parthenope, "Diet Sorrentino" is no bad thing
Directed by: Paolo Sorrentino Starring: Toni Servillo, Anna Ferzetti, Massimo VenturielloCertificate: 12A Released: 20 March 2026 Rating: 8/10
If Paolo Sorrentino sometimes self-consciously aspires to the mantle of Fellini, then Toni Servillo is his Marcello Mastroianni – his avatar, his alter ego, his dream persona. Since they joined forces for One Man Up (2001), Servillo has embodied the bunga-bunga spirit of 21st-century Italy, notably as exiled mob functionary Titta in The Consequences of Love (2004), the enigmatic mandarin Giulio Andreotti in Il Divo (2008) and especially the disillusioned boulevardier Jep in The Great Beauty (2013).
So La Grazia is a startling volte-face. Here Servillo is Mariano De Santis, a fictional President of the Italian Republic, during his final weeks in office. Nicknamed "Reinforced Concrete" for his unwavering adherence to the law, De Santis is a man of quiet, bureaucratic ritual. He spends his days smoking furtive cigarettes on the roof of the Quirinal Palace, quietly rapping to himself, mourning his unfaithful wife and contemplating three final quandaries: whether to pardon two convicted murderers and whether to sign a controversial bill legalising euthanasia.
La Grazia has been classed as "Diet Sorrentino", but after the ludicrously overblown Parthenope (2024), this might be no bad thing. The usual spectacle is replaced by a moving, meditative, almost clinical study of ageing and responsibility. But the Sorrentinismo isn’t entirely gone – most notably a stately, slow-motion walk through the cobbled streets of Rome, led by a robot surveillance dog. Sorrentino is still only 55 and surely too restless to adopt this late style for long, but it this is indupitably a career highlight for the impeccable Servillo.
