The Italians love Paolo Sorrentino .

His latest drama “La Grazia,” which kicked off the 82nd Venice Film Festival , was met with a four-minute standing ovation on Wednesday night on the Lido.

The story of an aging politician dealing with his own mortality — and deciding two challenging clemency cases in his final days in office — brought the Venice crowd to their feet as Sorrentino clutched his chest and waved to his fans inside the Sala Grande Theatre. The audience was made largely of Italian officials and members of the industry with some star power in the form of Tilda Swinton and Cate Blanchett.

“La Grazia” re-teams the Oscar-winning Sorrentino with his male muse and “The Great Beauty” star, Toni Servillo, who has appeared in seven of the director’s last 10 feature films to date

See Full Page