User Reviews

Okay here we have the second half of "Loro" the newest collaboration between director Sorrentino and lead actor Servillo and as their latest effort before that won Italy an Oscar, it is pretty accurate to be curious about what they came up with next. But I must say here again that I saw Loro 1 and Loro 2 together as a 2.5-hour film because this is the only version that showed here, so I took a look where the first half officially ends and the second half begins. I personally preferred the first half I must say, but still ai m glad Servillo plays the main part here because he still elevates the material, even if definitely not as much as he did in The Great Beauty where he basically is the film on many occasions. Now back to this one here, the key difference between parts 1 and 2 is that there is major focus on another character in the first half, while the second half is all Berlusconi/Servillo. Yeah, I already said Berlusconi despite knowing that he is always only called Silvio, but the references are really obvious. This one here is far more political as it deals with Berlusconi's tricks to get back to power in Italy and also about his doubts if he still has it. There is one scene when he randomly calls a lady from the phone book and convinces her to rent an apartment she has never seen before. His ego is crucial from start to finish, not just in this second part, that much is safe. He wants all he cannot have. The best example is the scene with the young woman who was a bit of an unusual beauty and did not fit in with all the girls wearing heavy make-up and looking as fake as it gets. And what happens when she rejects him because she is 50 years younger and because he smells because of his fake teeth as he admits later on. There is also a lot between him and his wife here, so romance (I don't want to call it love) plays a crucial role here. I think this second part may be slightly inferior as a whole, but it perhaps has the more memorable scenes ans at least we don't see any sheep collapse dead this time around. Okay what else can I say about this one? Oh right, the earthquake references for sure, those add at least a slight amount of emotion into a film that is otherwise as pompous as it is cold., But that is not necessarily a negative criticism because really how can you make a film emotional and touching that is about a man who is all about make-believe and whose quest for wealth and power basically destroyed every sense of longing inside of him, at least most of the time. When it comes thoguh, it is sometimes pretty powerful, even if he would never admit it to anybody. The fact that it haunts him how he got rejected by the young girl is very telling. Or these hilarious fame volcano eruption references that almost had something comical. Nothing is real but the girl. The more I think about the film, the more I am beginning to like it, so a bit of a pity I did not enjoy Loro 2 right when I watched it and as I have zero intention to give this one another go, I must still give this second half a thumbs-down and it was a wise choice for Italy to pick Dogman as their Oscar submission this year. Still, go watch the first half of Loro and deccide for yourself then if you want to keep going, but don't expect greatness or improvement whatsoever afterwards.