La Grazia

The nickname for ageing Italian president Mariano De Santis (Toni Servillo) is, he learns as he enters the last few months of his appointment, “reinforced concrete”. It’s a label that has grown up around his reputation as a judge and his attention to detail as president, which means nothing will be rushed even at this point.

Widowed, he relies on his daughter Dorotea (Anna Ferzetti) for assistance in the affairs of state and on his “carabinieri” protection officer for a daily supply of furtive cigarettes. As the clock ticks on his term in office, he has a trio of pending decisions on his desk – two potential pardons of a man and a woman who killed their spouses for very different reasons and a bill that will, if he signs it, legalise euthanasia.

Paolo Sorrentino has never been one to shy away from a flashy visual but the flourishes, when they come, feel very much in service of the film’s consideration of ageing and responsibility. He takes a ruminative and expansive approach to this material, allowing Servillo to bring weight to the role through force of personality, as in between musings on the cases at hand, his mind perpetually strays to an affair his wife had 40 years ago. The betrayal is like an itch the president can’t scratch, especially as his friend Coco Valori (Milvia Marigliano, with the air of a more down-to-earth but no less verbose Lady Bracknell) refuses to reveal who the dalliance was with.

The idea of ownership rumbles throughout, as Mariano has spent so long ‘in service’ to others he’s almost forgotten his own will, his daughter, in turn, has also subjugated her desires in order to look after her father. Sorrentino doesn’t entirely jettison the set piece. A teardrop is allowed to carry the weight of two men’s emotions as it drifts in the air, while a rainstorm unfolds as a slow motion disaster for Mariano’s visiting Portuguese counterpart as we see the frailty of an elderly gentleman getting drenched by elements that pay no heed to status. Later Mariano rediscovers spontaneity during a meal with others of a similar age.

The plot may be straightforward but the characters are offbeat, from an unrepentant husband killer (a memorably steely Linda Messerklinger) to a motorbike riding Black pope (Rufin Doh Zeyenouin).

Sorrentino also shows us just how much energy is needed for Mariano to maintain his immoveable air, his inner vitality betrayed by his love for the rap music he listens to in his off-hours. This kind of undercutting is present throughout from the writer/director, with conversations often featuring great pay-off lines that help to counterbalance the unmistakable traces of sentiment elsewhere. “Who owns our days?” may be a pertinent question asked by his screenplay but in the end, it’s friendship and a slice of pizza that may be the best response to many of life’s difficulties.

Reviewed on: 23 Sep 2025