""[Sorrentino] gave me a real present [of] seven beautiful, wonderful characters," says Servillo. It's the day after the Venice Film Festival premiere of their latest collaboration, the meditative presidential drama La Grazia, and AnOther has been invited to roundtable interviews with both the film's director and its star."
""It's something that's difficult to acquire and conquer," says Servillo. "There is a famous story regarding a French writer from the 1700s [Blaise Pascal] who apologises to a friend by saying, 'I would have liked more time to write you a shorter letter.' This is, I think, what any artist is trying to do. Reducing, reducing, getting to the essential.""
"Servillo plays a fictional president of the Italian republic with only six months left of his seven-year term. He's Mariano De Santis, a Catholic, widowed, serious jurist with no extravagance or frivolity - his political peers honour him with the nickname "Reinforced Concrete"."
Paolo Sorrentino and Toni Servillo, both from Naples, have developed a deep creative partnership exploring themes of beauty, loneliness, and the conscience of powerful Italian men. In their latest collaboration, La Grazia, Servillo portrays Mariano De Santis, a Catholic widowed president with six months remaining in his seven-year term. Nicknamed "Reinforced Concrete" for his serious demeanor, De Santis searches for lightness and precision as his presidency concludes. The film presents ethical dilemmas including euthanasia legislation and clemency decisions, while De Santis grapples with his late wife's infidelity. Servillo reflects on the artistic pursuit of reduction and essence, comparing it to Pascal's observation about brevity requiring more time.
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