The Pope is a chilled, black man with greying dreadlocks (Rufin Doh Zeyenouin) who tells him the president it is not the purpose of God to give answers before tootling off on his motorbike.

Paolo Sorrentino’s latest movie, La Grazia – his seventh to star the inestimable Toni Servillo (and the actor’s third playing an Italian president) – is rich in emotional satisfaction as well as packed with the sumptuous settings, seductive cinematography and often surreal and Baroque set pieces that are a hallmark of the director’s work. Servillo plays Mariano De Santis, an imaginary president of the Italian Republic during the last six months of his term in office. He faces three final judicial decisions: whether to sign a popular bill legalising euthanasia, and two petitions for presidential pardons for convicted murderers.

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