I heard this movie was great, exciting, and gripping...and therein I was set up for disappointment. It was beautiful, cinematic, great sound track--but simply exhausting trying to understand all the relationships. After 45 mins, I stopped trying so hard to remember names and connections, the gestalt took over. That helped, but nevertheless without any familiarity of Italian politics, one really had to remember closely the framework that was outlined in the first five minutes. And similarly, there is a scene when his secretary describes what his hand movements mean--if he is tapping his fingers together, you will be dismissed within 5 mins, if he is playing with his ring, it means he is interested, etc....And then throughout the movie it shows his hands--but I couldn't remember the different meanings. It wasn't important, but what I am saying is that it's hard to know the forest for the trees--what IS important to pay attention to, and what isn't really essential. We found it very long because the storyline was rather vague and very gradual. The last 15 mins were excellent. This is a film made at a very high caliber, I just think the writers could have structured it a little differently. But this is 10 stars compared to most of what comes out of Hollywood. It was challenging but special.
