Publisher's Synopsis
A collection of four films from Italian writer/director Paolo Sorrentino. 'Il Divo' (2008) is an award-winning biopic of seven-times Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti (Toni Servillo). A long-running political heavyweight in Italian politics with close ties to the Vatican, the legacy of the last Christian Democratic prime minister of Italy was eventually tarnished by his being arrested on charges of colluding with the Mafia earlier in his career. The film covers the period from the seventh election of Andreotti as Italian PM in 1992, up until his trial. 'The Consequences of Love' (2004) is a psychological drama in which Titta Di Girolamo (Servillo) is a middle-aged bachelor who has been living alone for the last eight years in a Swiss hotel. Detached and isolated, he spends his days observing the guests who come to stay at the hotel. Gradually, however, his controlled life begins to unravel when he starts talking to attractive barmaid Sofia (Olivia Magnani). As Titta feels himself more and more able to open up his deepest feelings, the tragic truth about his life is slowly revealed. 'The Family Friend' (2006) follows a rotten loan shark, Geremia De Geremei (Giacomo Rizzo), horning his way into a young couple's wedding. Geremia, who is sleazy and thoroughly disagreeable, lives with his bedridden harridan of a mum. Friendless and socially inept, he homes in on a young couple whose parents are forced to borrow from him to pay for their nuptials. The loan is made conditional upon the proud parents inviting Geremia to their child's big day, which they agree to only with great reluctance. His interest in the pretty young bride, Rosalba (Laura Chiatti), becomes decidedly unhealthy, but he may have met his match in the scathing-tongued bride-to-be. In 'One Man Up' (2001) the lives of two men, both called Antonio Pisapia (Servillo and Andrea Renzi), are intertwined. In the past, both men had successful careers but, after unfortunate events, are struggling to regain their former status. As the two men's separate stories are tied together, they begin to realise that they might not be able to find a way back.