When we talk of “coming of age” movies, we usually mean those about kids or young adults experiencing life lessons for the first time. But, the more mature among us also face new realities as we age into new phases of our lives. That’s the case with Paolo Sorrentino’s lyrical La Grazia.
La Grazia is an insightful and empathetic portrait of a fictional president of Italy (Toni Servillo) in the final months of his term. He is a man of quiet and resolute competence, a jurist admired for guiding the country through six political crises. He is also staid and taciturn, a man of boring countenance (except for an his fondness of the most current pop music, including rap).
He is a lame duck and in a malaise from the loss of wife of fifty years. He’s just running out the clock. Fortunately, his daughter Dorotea (Anna Ferzeti), an impressive jurist in her own right, is nudging him through his daily duties. To her frustration, he is refusing to make his final three official decisions, about whether to sign euthanasia legislation and whether to grant two pardons.
He believes that his beloved wife had an affair forty years before, and now, instead of working, he’s stewing over who was her lover.
His lethargy contrasts with the vibrant, over-the-top baroque art covering every surface of the Quirinale Palazzo, the former papal palace now the headquarters of Italy’s President. The only sparks of life come from Anna’s prodding and from dinners with the art critic Coco, his friend from grade school and his wife’s bestie (played in a charismatic performance by Milvia Marigliano).
As doggedly as the president drags his feet, we know that he will need to find a catharsis and reset his life. As he figures things out, there is a remarkable scene involving, of all things, an astronaut shedding a zero gravity tear.
Toni Servillo is excellent here as a much more decent and much less flamboyant politician than the ones he played in Sorrentino’s Il Divo and Loro. La Grazia matches up well with his Youth, another contemplation of the end of a career. As usual, Sorrentino takes full advantage of the palace interiors and Roman exteriors; visually and otherwise, Sorrentino’s masterpiece remains The Great Beauty.
La Grazia is streaming on Amazon and AppleTV.