Parthenope

Director Paolo Sorrentino

Sorrentino with lead actress Celeste Dalla Porta

Sorrentino with cinematographer Daria D’Antonio

PARTHENOPE                      B+                                                                                               Italy  France  (136 mi)  2024  ‘Scope  d: Paolo Sorrentino

Are you aware of the disruption your beauty causes?                                                                    —John Cheever (Gary Oldman)

A visually mesmerizing cinematic puzzle that is thematically elusive, this is the second film Sorrentino has shot in Naples, his beloved home city, following the more autobiographical The Hand of God (È stata la mano di Dio) (2021), which won the Grand Jury Prize (2nd Place) at the Venice Film Festival.  Situated on the Bay of Naples in southern Italy, where Mount Vesuvius, a still-active volcano, can be seen off in the distance, the omnipresent force of the sea is the one constant that affects everyone in the city, beckoning with its mysterious allure.  In Greek mythology, Parthenope aroused the jealously of the goddess Aphrodite, who, as punishment, decided to turn her into a mermaid, and was one of the three sirens whose songs enraptured Odysseus, but when she failed to entice him to shore (he was tied to the mast), she threw herself into the sea and drowned, where her body washed ashore, where beauty, passion, and death intertwined to give rise to what we know today as Naples, which is sometimes called Parthenope after the siren, while one of the city’s universities is also named after her.  Inspired by the fleetingness of beauty and youth, the sensuality on display is nothing less than stunning, shot in ‘Scope by Daria D’Antonio (also born in Naples), who shot his previous picture, where every shot is a work of art, explored from all angles, while extraordinary costume and musical choices add more layers of emotional resonance to this intoxicating experience.  The film is one continual male gaze at the hypnotic beauty of a girl actually born in the sea, Parthenope (Celeste Dalla Porta in her movie debut), as we follow her, and her heightened presence, through different phases of her life from the 1950’s to the present day, much of it feeling like a dream projection of every man’s fantasy, also Sorrentino’s first film starring a female protagonist, given a mythic stature, a devotion to form over function, aesthetics over usability, making her seem more of an object of study than a compelling character.  Drop dead gorgeous, with esoteric shades of Fellini and Antonioni, radiant beauty is always the first thing you see, but there are also powerfully provocative undercurrents that hit viewers in the face, actually becoming contentious at times, where there is a Beauty and the Beast aspect of this film, which can be understood in a multitude of ways, with suggestions that beauty is only skin deep, that once young faces will change one day.  The maker of THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE (2004), Il Divo (Il divo: La spettacolare vita di Giulio Andreotti) (2008), This Must Be the Place (2011), 2014 Top Ten List #5 The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza) (2013), and Youth (2015), a director with a distinctive style, where seven of his eight features have premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, Sorrentino’s films have always been extravagant and dazzlingly stylish, showing a keen eye for detail, often revealing the moral rot lurking below the seductively glittering surfaces, with no one else making films like this, yet his latter films have grown more intensely personal, as the poetic lyricism of the film becomes something that needs to be experienced rather than understood, inviting different interpretations.  And this film is no different, bathed in luxuriousness, delving into the city’s 60’s and 70’s history, yet it’s harder to pinpoint just what’s going on under the surface, creating a mysterious unknown, surrounded by everpresent cigarette smoking, where a frequently asked question posed by different characters is “What are you thinking about?”  No answers are forthcoming until the very end of the film when Parthenope has aged, played by Stefania Sandrelli, who was such a prominent force of Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist (Il Conformista) (1970).  This film is to Naples what THE GREAT BEAUTY was to Rome, both films opening with a quote by French novelist and physician Louis-Ferdinand Céline, “Of course, life is huge.  You get lost everywhere.”  

More than a conventional narrative, this film operates more as an abstract metaphor on the anthropological art of “seeing.”  According to Sorrentino, “Naples is a city that belongs to my emotions.  Every day, Neapolitans reinvent their lives, they decide that life should surprise them, and I want to tell it that way.”  Parthenope’s brother, Raimondo (Daniele Rienzo), says “It is impossible to be happy in the most beautiful place in the world.”  That same thing might be said of his younger sister, as all eyes follow her wherever she goes, a force of nature in her youth, dazzlingly beautiful, where Sorrentino puts viewers in her shoes, allowing us to experience her intoxicating allure and the effect this has on people, perhaps best expressed in this sequence, accompanied by the equally enchanting music of Polish composer Wojciech Kilar’s Exodus, PARTHENOPE Soundtrack Exodus - Wojciech Kilar YouTube (3:58), which is lush and liberating, creating an enormous amount of unresolved tension that can be disturbing, yet also awe-inspiring.  While there appears to be a parallel between myth and Parthenope’s story, encapsulated by the city of Naples itself, where the sun is always glimmering against the deep blue sea, her haunting beauty is described as “disruptive,” whose mere presence disrupts the world around her, where her stunning appearance is both her gift and her curse, as people become entirely consumed by her presence, having an overwhelming fixation with her, easily objectified, as men stop and stare, while women look on with envy or curiosity, becoming, in effect, our collective idea of beauty, leaving her struggling to find something real she can hold onto.  Yet despite all this attention, she remains emotionally inert, unable to truly grasp happiness or any meaningful intimacy, delving into the freedom of youth, the mystery of eroticism, a life full of possibilities that open up and then close, reflecting the impossibility of understanding “the other.”  It’s important to note that in this steamily romantic scene with two guys, one of whom is Sandrino (Dario Aita), the son of one of the many maids in the house where she grew up, Parthenope di Paolo Sorrentino | Clip dal Film YouTube (1:05), it’s startlingly reminiscent of a similar scene in Christophe Honoré’s Seventeen Times Cécile Cassard (Dix-sept fois Cécile Cassard) (2002), specifically this extraordinary dance sequence, 17 fois Cécile Cassard - Christophe Honoré Bande annonce YouTube (2:13), only in this case one of the two men vying for her love and attention is her older brother Raimondo, apparently blind to “the consequences of love,” where the platonic yet incestuous element is more than a little unsettling, like a Greek tragedy.  Sorrentino bashes the audience with these extreme contrasts, where euphoria is often mixed with intentional discomfort, as the world is always a bit off-kilter, where no judgments are made in a dream, yet that rapturous element lingers in every frame of this film, where the music offers its own interior commentary of heartbreaking melancholy that can be chillingly prescient and poetic, “Everything was already foreseen,” "Era già tutto previsto" di Riccardo Cocciante YouTube (4:15), which Sorrentino allows to play in full.  The inner life of this impenetrable protagonist remains distanced and highly ambiguous, which some may assume is superficially slight, a gorgeous empty vase with nothing inside, contending this is a shallow exercise, all surface with little substance, or is it instead a vessel waiting to be filled, where contradictory emotions can transform into something deeper than itself, as her life is meant to be mysteriously uncertain, resistant to easy interpretation, recalling what is arguably the most debated shot in Yasijirō Ozu’s career, as seen in Late Spring (Banshun) (1949), a sequence that cuts between Noriko’s face and an empty vase, where her mood changes significantly from joy to tears, while the vase remains unchanged and timeless, like the incessant waves of the ocean, YouTube (8:25).

Coming from a wealthy, well-cultured family with a staggering view of the water, Parthenope is a breathtakingly beautiful, free-spirited woman, where the film is comprised of segmented episodes of her life, including a carefree, picture-perfect Capri summer, where love is always in the air, going to exclusive parties, or an outdoor picnic with a rich businessman who persistently hovers above in his helicopter until she accepts his invitation, PARTHENOPE (2024) - Official HD Scene Clip - In Cinemas ...  YouTube (1:55), with fleeting encounters with various men who get drawn in by her physical charms, including her own brother Raimondo, Parthenope di Paolo Sorrentino | Clip dal Film YouTube (45 seconds), discovering the dizzying freedom in the art of seduction, where she may be a victim of her own beauty, as his obsessive infatuation leads to a fatal passion.  It was Goethe himself who immortalized the phrase, “See Naples and then die.”  Her more surreal experiences include a nighttime walk among the Spanish quarters populated by prostitutes and decay, or witnessing a gambling den that becomes a theater of “fusion” between two Camorra families, featuring a fearfully innocent, naked young couple having a public sex ritual that is little more than a spectacle.  At one point, she meets gay alcoholic American writer John Cheever (Gary Oldman) on holiday in Capri, who reminds her, “Beauty, like war, opens doors,” yet refuses to allow her to get drawn into his sordid world, defiantly telling her, “I don’t want to steal even a moment of your youth,” but perhaps, most significantly, her life turns by discovering her intellect, where knowledge becomes part of her mystery, developing a professional relationship with a sullen university lecturer, anthropology Professor Marotta (Silvio Orlando, from Naples), who acts more as a father figure than her own father, taking her under his wing and allowing her to excel.  After being discovered in a local hotel restaurant for her beauty, however, she decides to give acting a try, referred to an eccentric acting coach Flora Malva (Isabella Ferrari), whose face remains hidden behind a veil after botched plastic surgery, while also meeting an embittered film star, Greta Cool (Luisa Ranieri, from Naples), who despises Naples and excoriates Neapolitans, despite being from there, both embodying the soul crushing effects of fame and notoriety, with Parthenope deciding that frivolous life is not for her.  But nothing is more improbable than her blasphemous encounter with a lecherous Bishop (Peppe Lanzetta, from Naples)), whose less than pious debauchery expresses how little the church actually matters anymore, becoming more of a public spectacle than a matter of religious faith, asking her “Do you love too much or too little?”  Driven by a desire to understand miracles, once perceived as miraculous herself, she seeks to understand the very forces she embodies, a disruptive force that typically normalizes over time.  Puzzled by the swirl of contradictory behavior, where even the church is predatory, she returns back to the professor, Parthenope di Paolo Sorrentino | Clip dal Film YouTube (36 seconds), becoming his assistant, where a life of academia awaits, a world where beauty and superficialities have no place, whose essential foundation is built upon ideas, where she can have the same effect upon the next generation as the professor had on her, literally opening up her life in new ways, where teaching offers the possibilities of a new future, growing more introspective, studying the very mystery she once represented.  With an unexpected dose of magical realism that imposes a childlike vision of wonder, the film has a tendency to meander at times, jumping through various timelines, with Stefania Sandrelli inhabiting her later years, as youth has finally abandoned her, exposing greater self-awareness and vulnerability, something we haven’t seen before from her character, yet there’s something in her philosophical forthrightness that sticks with viewers, like knowing your worth and finding your authentic voice, or answering a question with a question, Parthenope di Paolo Sorrentino | Clip dal Film YouTube (36 seconds).  A hymn to beauty and eternity, a love letter to a city, yet more than anything this film is an epic journey, an existential treatise on the fragmentary moments that shape one’s life, where certain things remain in our memory while others simply vanish, drawing viewers into a sacred relationship with memory and the passage of time. 

Note

The film is dedicated to Luca Canfora, the film’s costume designer, who died under mysterious circumstances on September 1, 2023 as filming started to wrap up.  His body was found in the waters off the island of Capri, initially ruled a suicide, but his family expresses skepticism and disputes this contention, urging greater investigation, Death imitates art as film designer’s body washes up on shores of Capri. 

The Hand of God (È stata la mano di Dio)

 

Director Paulo Sorrentino

Sorrentino with his ensemble cast

Sorrentino on the set

Sorrentino on the soccer field

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE HAND OF GOD (È stata la mano di Dio)                    B-                                               Italy  USA  (130 mi)  2021  ‘Scope  d: Paulo Sorrentino

I did what I could.  I don't think I did it so badly.                                                                          —Diego Maradona, opening epitaph

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize (2nd Place) at the Venice Film Festival, this semi-autobiographical and coming-of-age story takes us back to Naples in the 1980’s, with Fabio (Filippo Scott), a stand-in for the director, living his awkward teenage years with loving parents, including his father (Toni Servillo) and doting mother (Teresa Saponangelo), who both hold hands and whistle at each other to maintain romantic interest, an older brother Marchino (Marlon Joubert), and a sister Daniela who never seems to come out of the bathroom.  They live in a building owned by an elderly matriarch, the heartlessly dispassionate Baronessa Focale (Betti Pedrazzi), a throwback to an earlier era, as she would have staunchly supported the Fascists, who pounds on the floor whenever she needs anything.  Fabio is something of a friendly ambassador and go-between in his large, extended family, as he helps out with regular visits, extending the friendship his parents themselves have no interest in extending, largely due to damaging rumors, or the flamboyance and idiosyncracies of the family.  While Fabio has no real friends, or a girlfriend, he is well-liked by the women in his family, as he’s kind and gentle, a little dreamy, and always willing to do whatever they ask, but feels especially drawn to his Aunt Patrizia (Luisa Ranieri), who is a bit touched, mentally, as she is childless, yet she is gifted with a sculpted body, which she flaunts, that all teenage boys would adore, holding Fabio on a leash, apparently, as he follows her around like a lap dog.  The Daria D’Antonio cinematography, as always in a Sorrentino film, has touches of magic, none more superb than the opening sequence, an extended aerial shot lasting several minutes swooping over the speedboats in the Gulf of Naples closing in on the town of Naples, then following a vintage limo seemingly from the 40’s down a coastal road before expanding back to a view of the nearby islands of Capri, Ischia, and Procida, while not far away is Stromboli, a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea.  Water is the life blood of every port city, as it is a means of transport, offering employment opportunities, and connects the city to the outside world, yet it also allows recreational opportunities, like swimming and boating, allowing people to relax, take a dip in the sea, and bask in the sun.  This eye-popping shot is followed by another, where Patrizia, a curvaceous woman with her breasts and nipples clearly outlined under the slim material of her white dress is seen waiting at a crowded stop for a night bus when a mysterious man in that same limo shows up, identifying himself as San Gennaro (Enzo De Caro), the Patron Saint of Naples, who takes her to an immaculate estate to meet the mythic local figure Monaciello, or ‘Little Monk,’ who kisses her on the head (while grabbing her ass) and stuffs money in her purse as a magical guarantee that she will conceive a child.  Yet when she returns home late, claiming she’s experienced a miracle, her husband Franco (Massimiliano Gallo) finds the money and rails against her with a violent rage, calling her a “whore” while slapping her to the floor, causing Fabio’s family to intervene, with Fabio enthralled by an exposed naked breast, yet no one but Fabio believes her story, as she is described as “touched in the head,” yet clearly the line between what’s real and the mythical has been crossed, raising questions about what constitutes the truth.  Nothing in the rest of the film lives up to those introductory shots, as Fabio’s extended family decides to leisurely spend a weekend afternoon on a boat, the entire family is flummoxed to see Patrizia lying completely naked on her back under the sun before the entire family, adults and children, who can’t take their eyes off her, many seeing an exposed woman’s breast for the very first time, until she politely asks Fabio to bring her a towel.  This kind of scene establishes Sorrentino as a breast man, as he is clearly fascinated and obsessed with the female anatomy, where movies offer the chance for young boys like Fabio to leer all they want.  But the afternoon is interrupted by a high seas motorboat chase, as police are chasing some cigarette smugglers, yet the smugglers seem to have the upper hand with superior boat speed and dexterity, eventually losing the police, seen lounging in the harbor afterwards draped across their bow under the sun.  The family al fresco lunch disintegrates into eating watermelon and griping, with people eagerly voicing their complaints, waiting for a plethora of profanity to come from the mouth of a dried-up old shrew, Signora Gentile (Dora Romano), one of the more eccentric female family members, seen eating a hunk of fresh mozzarella while wearing a fur coat on a hot summer’s day.  Sorrentino has re-introduced the Fellini profile of the grotesque, finding chiseled faces who fit his photographic criteria, often mocking them, yet never developing them into fleshed-out characters.   

What 2014 Top Ten List #5 The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza) (2013) was to Rome this film is to Naples, inspired by the success of Alfonso Cuarón’s autobiographical Roma (2018), Sorrentino decides to delve into his own haunted past, losing the dramatically flashy editing and exquisite design, and the sheer spectacle of his earlier films, toning it down, where a lack of musical selections, a staple in earlier films, stands out, and where a VHS copy of Sergio Leone’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (1984) sits in a prominent spot on top of the television, unwatched, a reminder of his life in Naples, often overlooked compared to larger Italian cities, as it’s busy, noisy, and sometimes viewed as dirty, where a criminal element is part of the landscape.  Yet the backdrop of the story are the rumors floating around Naples that Argentine soccer magician Diego Maradona, regarded as the world’s best and arguably the greatest ever, is contemplating leaving the Barcelona Football Club to play in Naples, which has the whole town on high alert, where it seems that’s all people can talk about.  The general consensus is spoken aloud, “He’d never leave Barcelona for this shithole.”  Marchino even asks Fabio which he would prefer, having sex with Patrizio or Maradona coming to play for Naples.  Without hesitation he picks Maradona.  But it amps up when Fabio’s father verifies the local bank transferred a sum of £6.9 million to the Barcelona team, all but confirming the transfer, turning the town into a frenzy of unbridled excitement, unable to contain their joy of what they are about to witness.  Fabio’s father buys him a season ticket for his birthday, and Naples is consumed by soccer mania.  Maradona, of course, did not disappoint.  There’s a brief scene of father and son sitting in the stands watching a team practice, with Maradona hitting a series of consecutive penalty shots, each one just above the outreached hands of the goalie elevated high into the near corner just under the bar.  It’s a picture of perfection, wonderfully executed, leading to Naples winning the Italian title of best team.  Italy stops in its tracks during a big soccer match, with deserted city streets, then exploding in a collective elation whenever the local team scores, with a noisy celebration coming out of every balcony and window.  But the best was yet to come, especially in the quarter finals match of the 1986 FIFA World Cup, when Maradona broke a 0-0 score with England in a controversial play, forever known as the Hand of God, as he played the ball off his left wrist scoring a goal, which should have been disallowed, but the goal stood, scoring another goal later in the match where he weaves his way through the entire team, known as the Goal of the Century, ultimately winning 2-1.  An elderly uncle Alfredo (Renato Carpentieri) screams with delight, so despising the imperialist British that he felt they deserved the curse brought upon them, perhaps karmic retribution for the ill-fated Falklands War, a curse that still remains in effect, apparently, as they’ve never won another World Cup since hosting the event in 1966.  Argentina went on to defeat West Germany in the finals, winning the World Cup, with Maradona voted the best player, scoring or assisting on 10 of Argentina’s 14 goals during the tournament.  This all dissolves into one memory, yet for Naples, this felt heaven sent, as not much ever happens in their town, and suddenly it felt like the center of the universe.  But it’s soccer, in particular the wondrous exploits of Diego Maradona, that ultimately saves Fabio’s life, as a random tragedy alters his life at the tender age of 16, an accident he avoided by watching Maradona in a soccer game, a tragedy that would forever mark his life, which could have sent him reeling into a state of depression, giving up on his personal ambitions and dreams, but the beautiful artistry of one man’s genius on the soccer field forever lifted his spirits, where old clips, Diego Maradona Amazing Skills in Training - YouTube (4:13), or Diego Maradona - When Football Becomes Art - YouTube (17:36), give you some idea of what it was like to witness this man in live action. 

An intensely personal film, much of this feels hit or miss, with grievances aired throughout the film, where life’s disappointments are a familiar theme, never really drawing viewers into this 1980’s world, or living up to the magic of Fellini’s AMARCORD (1973) or Tornatore’s CINEMA PARADISO (1988), two autobiographical coming-of-age films that still resonate today, viewing more family relatives than one could count, not really knowing who they are, yet faces, much more than characters, repeatedly show up before the camera, even as we don’t have a clue who they are.  This overly detached and impersonal style of filmmaking is at odds with the style of film this wants to be, revealing a series of kaleidoscopic vignettes in the life of a young man on the verge of manhood, yet too much of this leaves viewers disinterested, never maintaining that emotional pulse to hold everything together.  It’s also a tribute to the glories of Naples, reveling in the coastal beauty, the decaying splendor in architecture, and the panoramic Italian vistas, including a vibrant theater scene, making a blatant sexual reference about Franco Zeffirelli, claiming he “plays for the other team,” where a Fellini audition turns into an absurdist set piece, with Marchino, a handsome, aspiring actor, sitting in a waiting room where everyone is already dressed like a Fellini extra, so he never stands out, with the infamous director telling him he looks ordinary, sending him into a tailspin of depression for losing his one opportunity.  Yet watching a film shoot in the middle of town is recalled as a magical experience, with Fabio growing intrigued, but an accidental tragedy leaves his life significantly altered, suddenly rootless and alone, with no direction.  By chance, he runs into one of the speedboat guys on the run, Armando (Biagio Manna), who quickly befriends him, whisking him off to a midnight run to Capri to go dancing, but the place is deserted, later ending up alone in Stromboli, contemplating his existence, watching the gaseous fumes stream out of the volcano.  Just as suddenly, he visits Armando in prison, wondering whether he’ll get 10 or 15 years, so the transiency of his life at this point feels overwhelming, having no place to really call home.  Even Patrizia is locked up in a mental asylum, watching her life waste away, yet we remain clueless why.  An aunt tells Fabio she has suicidal impulses, claiming she would otherwise take her own life, but we see no evidence of that, so her confinement remains baffling.  He pays a surprising visit to the Baronessa, who despite their age difference, seems to understand the needs of a teenage boy who is just wandering in a state of perpetual indifference.  Much of this takes place in the claustrophobic confines of dark, interior rooms, enveloped in sadness, tending to feel sorry for himself, as if there is no escape from the doldrums of his dreary life.  At a local theater performance, a man in the audience shames an actress off the stage, something Fabio had never seen before, running afterwards to discover it was Antonio Capuano (Ciro Capano), a no-nonsense movie director who happens to be from Naples, yet also a man with a volatile temper, peppering him with questions about his seemingly aimless ambition, which stiffens his resolve, as Fabio has inclinations of becoming a director himself, which sends Capuano into an assault of insults.  “Is it possible this city doesn’t inspire you at all?”  He urges him to steer clear of his comfort zone, but to remain true to himself, suggesting not to go to Rome, where he plans to attend film school, and to instead reclaim the emotional resonance of something with true meaning and value, something that comes from deep within himself, urging him not to fall into the trap of pretension, always the safer road to travel.  This brief back and forth is not exactly friendly, but has a contentious nature about it, as Capuano, for all practical purposes, is dismissing the kid until he proves himself worthy of his attention.  As it happens, Sorrentino co-wrote the screenplay for Capuano’s THE DUST OF NAPLES (1988), one of his earliest screen credits, with the film following him on a train on his way to Rome to discover his future.