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The film-loving political icon's career spanned nearly 70 years and was the inspiration for director Paolo Sorrentino's Cannes Jury Prize-winner "Il Divo" in 2008.
ROME – Giulio Andreotti, the tenacious and powerful seven-time Italian prime minister who was the subject of Paolo Sorrentino’s 2008 Cannes Jury prize-winning biopic Il Divo, died Monday at his home in Rome. He was 94.
Andreotti was without a doubt one of the main protagonists of the post-World War II era in Italy, with a political career that stretched from the first postwar government in 1947 through serving as prime minister over seven separate governments, five stints as a minister, and a senator for life since 1991. He had been the last surviving member of the country’s first postwar government.
Andreotti also was alleged to have had ties to the Sicilian Mafia and was implicated in what was billed as the Mafia Trial of the Century in Palermo, though he was cleared of charges. It is that aspect of Andreotti’s life that Sorrentino explored in Il Divo, in which Andreotti was portrayed by Italian acting maestro Toni Servillo. The transformation of Servillo for the role earned the film an Oscar nomination for makeup.
The film was mostly critical of Andreotti, who nonetheless gave his blessing to the project. But after it was released, Andreotti said he wished Sorrentino had waited to release the film until after his death.(...)
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