It&rsquo;s been compared to &ldquo;The Godfather&rdquo; and &ldquo;Nixon,&rdquo; but the Italian political opus &ldquo;Il Divo&rdquo; reminds me of nothing so much as Orson Welles&rsquo; &ldquo;Citizen Kane.&rdquo;</p><p>The subject is Giulio Andreotti, a six-time Italian prime minister and one of the most controversial and corrupt politicians in the Western world.</p><p> Paolo Sorrentino&rsquo;s black comedy isn&rsquo;t easy &mdash; like &ldquo;Kane,&rdquo; it features an enigmatic central figure, and it wanders in non-chronological order through the labyrinth of &rsquo;80s Italian politics. But its visual/aural style is so intense as to keep even uninformed American viewers engaged and on their toes.</p><p>It helps that the film features a creepily compelling performance by Toni Servillo, whose Andreotti seems equal parts Henry Kissinger and the vampire from the silent &ldquo;Nosferatu.&rdquo; </p><p>This Andreotti peers owlishly at the world through heavy-rimmed glasses. His ears stick out from his head at odd angles. He never turns his head from side to side and in fact moves as if his backbone has been fused at every disc. He&rsquo;s capable of cynical wit, but his face betrays no emotion &mdash; not love, hate, fear or anger. In some ways, he seems practically ego-less.</p><p>If you want to know what he&rsquo;s feeling, his longtime secretary (a wonderful Piera Degli Esposti) advises a visitor, watch his hands.</p><p>Andreotti is a mystery even to the political operatives who have worked with him for decades. But somehow, he keeps getting elected. Perhaps the public responds to the Machiavellian ruthlessness draped around him like a royal cape. </p><p>Remember how toward the end of &ldquo;The Godfather&rdquo; there was a sequence in which a series of murders were intercut with the baptism of Michael Corleone&rsquo;s infant son? Sorrentino begins &ldquo;Il Divo&rdquo; with a similar montage of politicians, journalists, prosecutors and police officials being gunned down. They&rsquo;ve all crossed Andreotti &mdash; or knew too much and had to be eliminated.</p><p>Though he was charged with numerous crimes after a scandal in the early &rsquo;90s racked his Christian Democrats, Andreotti was never convicted. Sorrentino gets around that by writing a scene in which Andreotti confesses to the Missus that he had a hand in 236 deaths.</p><p>Throughout this brilliantly kinetic film Sorrentino stresses the idea of government-as-gangsters. Like the Mafia with which Andreotti was believed to be in cahoots, his political pals have thuggish nicknames like &ldquo;Shark.&rdquo; Andreotti is known as Il Divo (the divine one), the Sphinx, Beelzebub and the Hunchback.</p><p>When did Andreotti die, you ask? Here&rsquo;s the crazy thing: He didn&rsquo;t. He&rsquo;s still in politics. At age 90, he&rsquo;s a senator-for-life. </p><p>And what do you want to bet that the amoral schemer with the steel-trap mind loves this film version of himself?</p><p><strong>&ldquo;Medicine for Melancholy&rdquo;</strong></p><p>After a one-night stand, a couple (Wyatt Cenac of &ldquo;The Daily Show&rdquo; and Tracey Heggins) spend a day getting acquainted. Her reluctance (her boyfriend is out of town) is worn down by his eagerness to please. He gives her a guided tour of the San Francisco she&rsquo;s never seen. Barry Jenkins&rsquo; indie romance is surprisingly sweet and dabbles gently in racial and economic issues. (Did I mention that our protagonists are African-American?) Visually, it&rsquo;s charming &mdash; a black-and-white movie that gradually takes on pastel hues as the relationship deepens.