Last night I attended the Film Festival screening of Il Divo, an astoundingly inventive and beautifully crafted (if confusing: too many Italian politicians, bankers, businessmen, dates, subtitles and political machination for this viewer, unschooled in Italian political history, to follow) film with a wonderful soundtrack, astonishing lensing, and a stand-out performance by Toni Servillo as Giulio Andreotti. Afterwards, director and writer Paolo Sorrentini received an award and participated in a short question-and-answer session with the audience. Q&As usually make me cringe, given the kind of soapboxing by audience members it appears to induce, but this one was worth it for a few sharp questions and a wonderful revelation at the end from a gentleman who described himself only as “someone who worked at the Department of the Taoiseach for thirty years.” The gentleman in question said he met Andreotti on several occasions, and pointed to the accuracy of Il Divo‘s portrayal of this powerful political figure who thrice served as Italy’s Prime Minister. He followed with a recollection of Andreotti’s impact on our own Charles J. Haughey, remarking on the latter’s clear fascination with the former. Having just watched a film about Andreotti’s Mafia links and brutal treatment of his enemies in politics and the media, it was particularly entertaining to hear the name of our former Taoiseach introduced. The gentleman in question got a larger round of applause than Sorrentino.