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With kaleidoscopic grandeur, he luxuriates in carnal and narcotic decadence on an unprecedentedly dazzling scale.
For every line of cocaine, theres a naked buttock to snort it off of.
As an American critic, its hard not to see Donald Trump in your portrayal of Silvio Berlusconi.
Did you consider the commonalities between them at all during production?
Paolo Sorrentino: Quite frankly, no.
If there are similarities, theyre involuntary.
Both Berlusconi and Trump have this propensity to treat government like their businesses, and that is always dangerous.
Whether aesthetic or more literal, pleasure is the guiding principle ofLoro.
What role does that play in the film?
Is that excess ever for its own sake?
Toni Servillo: I think that the dimension of pleasure has a very strong symbolic meaning in the film.
Its not in the sense of people electing a representative, but being seduced by a master of deceit.
And of course, the main element of seduction is pleasure.
How do you respond to such charges?
PS: This is an old controversy that has gone on forever, with regards to violent films.
If you make a violent film, you must be glorifying violence, and so on.
Because putting something on the screen allows you to understand what can otherwise seem distant or incomprehensible.
Thats the wrong approach for art in general, whether its a film or novel.
Reaching that understanding means exposing certain bothersome facts.
If aspects of this film bother and audience, that is a crucial step on the way to understanding.
For example, this film is about a triumph of vulgarity.
That would be an excessively Manichean way of looking at the world.
Why else would it be so popular?
I am more interested in interrogating what is so attractive about a life we can also find repulsive.
Id sayLorois your most profane film yet.
Do you ever feel pressure to top your previous work, in terms of outrageousness?
PS:[Chuckles.
]Why thank you!
Not really, though.
Lorowas released as two films for Italian markets.
Could you talk us through the process of condensing them into one?
We see in the film that Berlusconi is a powerful, influential, underhanded man.
Did either of you feel trepidation about taking on such an intimidating figure?
PS:[Shrugs.
]Eh, no.
Berlusconi is a very ironic man, and I was hoping hed apply this irony to the film.
TS: Paolo, of course, is the author of the story.
He looked at the facts and, through an act of transfiguration, built them into a narrative.
Two of the most fun scenes were created through this creative reworking.
Did you consult a legal team for the lengthy disclaimer that opens the film?
The objective of the film is not to be an expose; thats best left to the newspapers.
With minor modifications, this man and his era can be echoed in other countries and scenarios.
Did working in TV onThe Young Popeinfluence the way you structure your plotting?
There are parts of the film that feel a bit episodic.
PS: Not really.
They are two separate entities, for me.
I was surprised when you went to HBO, remembering the bit inYouthwhere Jane Fonda speaks disparagingly about television.
What motivated the decision to give TV a try?
Berlusconi can be a ridiculous man, but the film doesnt want to write him off as a cartoon.
Toni, how do you thread that needle with your performance?
TS: Avoiding caricature is a matter of style.
Thats the job of farce, and plenty of comic actors have portrayed him in that capacity elsewhere.
Though our film contains comedy, the damage he has caused is serious and real.
The film doesnt lose touch with that, so Berlusconi never turns into caricature.
