has been Prime Minister of Italy seven times . His Christian Democrat Party was the leading force in Italian politics as a one-party system for four decades . The rules of the game were shattered in the early 1990s by `` Tangentopoli '' or Bribesville -- a corruption scandal that laid bare some of the government 's unsavory practices , ruining careers and resulting in the suicides of some leading politicians . Andreotti himself was implicated in illegal activities , including connections to the Mafia , but was finally acquitted of all charges . Today , he is a senator for life . Something of the man 's influence in all spheres of Italian public life becomes clear when Sorrentino -- who says he is not a political director , `` only in this case '' -- explains how hard he found it to fund the film . `` In Italy nobody wanted to finance the film because everybody was scared , '' Sorrentino told CNN . `` He has been a very powerful man for many years . '' Sorrentino managed eventually to secure funding from a private source . `` It is not easy for Italian companies to
LONDON , England -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A man walks around the side of a building , footsteps falling in time to the heartbeat of a driving pop soundtrack , pulls out a pistol and guns down another man . Tony Servillo as arch-manipulator and seven time Italian Prime Minister , Guilio Andreotti , in Paolo Sorrentino 's `` Il Divo . '' A montage of grisly murders follows , all with the same infectious pop song pounding in the background . It 's edge-of-the-seat stuff and it 's only the opening sequence of gifted Italian director Paolo Sorrentino 's biopic of Italian politician Giulio Andreotti , `` Il Divo . '' Sorrentino 's film chronicles the career of probably the most important and controversial politico in Italy 's recent history . But , more than that , it pins Andreotti to the specimen board and dissects his character without mercy . The film caught the eye of the judges at Cannes Film Festival last year where it picked up the Jury Prize . Predictably , Andreotti did n't react well to the film . `` He was very angry , '' recalls Sorrentino . Now 91 years-old , Andreotti