Toni Servillo

L’UOMO IN PIU ‘One Man Up’ (2001)

Paolo Sorrentino’s self assured debut is ‘master in the making’ look at life in the 80’s for two celebrities who share a name.

Toni Servillo is Antonio Pisapia, a singer at the height of his fame and Andrea Renzi is also an Antonio Pisapia, a football star also at the top of his game, the film charts their parallel journeys and gives us an insight into the superficial and ultimately dangerous side of fame.

Sorrentino flourishes his film with beautiful cinematography and allows music to be a major player in his stories. This elevates him from many first timers; his artistic eye and flair for dialogue and story-telling several notches above most.

This was Toni Servillo’s sixth film (according to IMDB) and he was already an award winning theatrical actor of great merit and he went on to work with Sorrentino several times after their first cinematic pairing to great acclaim. I have yet to see Il Divo but am greatly looking forward to it having only recently seen The Consequences of Love and La Grande Bellezza and adored them both.

Servillo has that Bill Murray trait of playing world weary wonderfully well, and here we see the beginning of that aspect of him that becomes one of his great strengths as an actor.

Beautiful, tragic and insightful, this debut is one to watch.

3.7/5

BUY IT ON DVD HERE

DOWNLOAD THE FILM ON iTUNES HERE

THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE ‘Le conseguenze dell’amore’ (2004)

I recently watched La Grande Bellezza by Paolo Sorrentino and was blown away.

I had been recently thinking about why I hadn’t seen any decent films coming out of Italy, it’s probably because I hadn’t seen any Italian films but this is not for lack of want.
If anyone has any recent recommendations, chuck em my way please.

Spending 2 hours in the company of Tony Servillo is like drinking a very good vintage. Smooth, deep and full of flavour and expression. All contained in one bottle, not spilling out but contained.
He does this very well and I love watching him.

I’m not going to get into the story, that’s half the fun, Paolo’s films seem to not be about a neatly tied up topic rather an truthful rendition of someone’s story at a certain point in their lives.

This is another beautiful film in which Paolo shows his love of music, people, Italy, mise en scene and stillness/space.
I love the fact that Servillo’s Titta La Girolamo takes his time in everything, answering questions, moving places, speaking in general, like he says “I am not a frivolous man”.

A stunning look at a man for whom life has become a prison of sorts and the consequences of allowing oneself to feel love again. Just beautiful. Sorrentino is becoming one of my favourite directors.

4/5

BUY THE DVD HERE