Steamy sex, exotic dancers, cocaine sniffing and raucous poolside parties – the life and times of Italy’s scandal-tainted former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi would appear to be natural material for a biopic. Oscar-winning director Paolo Sorrentino has taken up the challenge, and the first instalment of his two-part film Loro (Them) was released in Italian cinemas on 24 April. The second part is due on 10 May.
Describing the inspiration behind Loro at last year’s Cannes film festival, Sorrentino said he wanted to “make a film about Italians … Berlusconi is the archetype of ‘Italianness’ and through him I can tell the Italians’ story.”
But if Loro’s first half is anything to go by, the film is mostly an account of the sordid, power-hungry personalities who orbited around the billionaire. Berlusconi is played by Toni Servillo, a long-term collaborator who was also cast as the playboy protagonist in Sorrentino’s 2014 Academy award-winning film The Great Beauty, only makes an appearance towards the end of Loro 1.
Sorrentino clarified his earlier comments at a press conference following a screening of Loro 2 in Rome on 2 May. “The film is a take on power and characteristics during the 2006 to 2010 period,” he said. “In part, it is about characteristics that Italians have, but it’s not a film about Italians.”
What Italians will recognise is an era of politics the majority are embarrassed by and people they would rather forget. The central character in Loro 1 is a pimp from southern Italy called Sergio Morra, played by Riccardo Scamarcio, who longs to get close to Berlusconi. Italians will likely compare the character with Gianpaolo Tarantini, a businessman who was convicted in 2015 of procuring prostitutes for Berlusconi’s parties in the hope of winning lucrative public contracts.
Loro covers the period between 2006, when Berlusconi’s second term as prime minister came to an end, and 2010, two years after he began his third stint (and a year before he was forced to resign amid an acute debt crisis).
Sorrentino steers clear of politics in the film, mainly alluding to it as part of Berlusconi’s rampant ambition, which is summed up neatly when his character is asked: “What did you expect: to be the richest man in the country, become prime minister and be madly loved by everyone too?” He replies: “Yes, that’s exactly what I expected.”
Loro 2 sees Sorrentino endeavour to understand the complex personality and emotions of Berlusconi during a tumultuous period in his career and as his marriage to second wife Veronica Lario, played by Elena Sofia Ricci, stutters towards an end.
“Loro is neither pro- or anti-Berlusconi,” Sorrentino said. “It is instead a tender look at the weaknesses of an old man.”
Berlusconi, who is currently vying for his Forza Italia party to get into government again as part of a centre-right coalition, has not commented publicly on the film. It was reported last summer that he was only too happy to have a movie about his life made by a respected director and that for shooting he had opened up his villas in Milan and Sardinia, where famous “bunga bunga” parties were hosted. However, by October, as the 81-year-old geared up for general elections on 4 March [the result was inconclusive], he expressed concerns that the film might be a political attack against him.
Servillo has been praised for his portrayal of Berlusconi, but reviews for Loro 1 have been mostly negative. Writing in La Repubblica, Emiliano Morreale described it as “lopsided and disharmonious”, while Paolo Mereghetti of Corriere della Sera said it was “a cross between farce and tenderness”. Giovanni Robertini, of Rolling Stone Italia, likened it to “a porn film without a moral issue”.
Box-office takings also reflect lack of enthusiasm for the film when compared to his previous: Loro 1 made €1.7m in its first week, much less than The Great Beauty and 2015’s Youth.
