I spoke a couple of days ago with Il Divo director Paolo Sorrentino at the Standard Hotel. The interview went well and speaks for itself. We talked about the film (obviously), Tony Servillo ‘s portrayal of former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti (which the film is about), Bluray players, Rome, the world economy, etc.

Il Divo director Paolo Sorrentino at Manhattan’s Standard Hotel, a metallic, super-cool high-tech palace located in the meat-packing district.

I told Sorrentino that he reminded me of a somewhat thinner-faced pre-plastic surgery Michael Cimino (i.e., as Cimino looked in the late ’70s).

Il Divo (MPI, 4.24) has no website, but it is, as I said a few days ago, an immaculate, highly stylized film about Andreotti and his political career, particularly the events that led to revelations about his ties to the Italian mafia and his reported complicity in the murder of a journalist.

I saw it last year in Cannes, and my immediate reaction was basically (a) “a first-rate political drama but probably too Italian to play in the U.S.” (about which I was obviously wrong) and (b) “a brilliant performance by Servillo.”