Parthenope

Parthenope is one of those movies that I enjoyed, but I still can't tell you what the point was. It's an Italian movie, so of course it LOOKS gorgeous, with breathtaking scenery, costumes, and cinematography. Add a lush and haunting musical score and you have something rather spellbinding. It also has a very attractive cast, led by the charismatic Celeste Dalla Porta in the title role. The film begins in 1950, when Parthenope is born quite literally in the sea, with her mother surrounded by a team of midwives, on the Bay of Naples. (Naples itself is practically a character in the movie.) Parthenope grows up and pursues a degree in anthropology, even though she tells her professor/mentor that she really doesn't know what anthropology is. She aces her finals pretty much by accident and quickly gets a prestigious teaching job in Trento. Although she is gorgeous and is pursued by fabulously wealthy men, her heart seems to belong to her brother. The brother commits suicide offscreen (which we learn about in a rather oblique manner). Why? Did they commit incest? At one point a threesome is hinted at between Parthenope, her boyfriend, and her brother. But we don't know really how far it went. It's all very enigmatic and not a little disturbing. There are some funny sequences, including an outrageous lampoon of Sophia Loren embodied in a character called "Greta Cool," a famous actress who is closely identified with Naples. I'd recommend this movie to Italophiles and lovers of Italian cinema, but I don't really know how much appeal it would have for the general public. Ms. Dalla Porta is an interesting actress whom I'm sure we'll be seeing more of in the future.

I was so close to leaving the cinema half way through this film, but stayed. And the best bits are actually in the 2nd half so Im giving it 6 stars instead of the 4 which the first half deserved. However, I still dont think this is a good movie. Fantastic visually yes, for Sorrentino is a master of unforgettable filmic tableaus, but that just isn't enough.

The overall problem...There is no plot, it's more a series of separate scenes on narcissism, or rather that's how they come across. I think Sorrentino wanted to create something profound but the result feels contrived and sad.

And then there's the anticlimactic ending - a sudden flash forward 50 years to an oddly empty/vacant character that is Parthenope in her 70s. What? Why?

Along the lines of the legendary beauty Aphrodite, "Parthenope" (Celeste Dalla Porta) was born in the sea and grew to become a great temptress to both of her male contemporaries. The first being her obsessed brother "Raimondo" (Daniele Rienzo) and the other her adoring childhood friend "Sandrino" (Dario Alta) whose unrequited love for her drove him to distraction. Not, however, to such distraction as that of her sibling, It's when the trio decide to head for an unfunded trip from their home in Naples to the nearby island of Capri that she meets elderly American writer/dipso "Cheever" (Gary Oldman) who finds her intriguing but appears to have a certain immunity to her charms and she's not used to that. Whilst on this carefree trip there befalls a tragic realisation that causes all of them to appreciate the stark realities and fickle shallowness of their lives and brings into focus senses of grief, rejection and emptiness. It's a beautifully photographed piece of cinema, this film, with sparing dialogue and a sexually, but not explicitly so, charged chemistry abundant throughout this rather visually extravagant but disappointingly soulless drama. It is a bit like a postcard upon which is a beautiful picture but just too few words to develop the characters or to quite put enough meat on their perfectly formed bones. Indeed as the second hour starts to drag, the whole thing begins to look more like a repetitively self-indulgent vanity exercise that might be rooted in mythology but that struggles to engage beyond the superficial. It's classy and stylish and well worth a look - but look appears to be all Paolo Sorrentino wants us to do.

Paerthenope isn´t just a film, it is a painting alive: every scene is filmed with such sensibility... If you wonder what real Beauty is, then the film will give you the answer. A real masterpiece in my opinion, that will make you fall in love with the main actress (you can´t escape that !) but also with the beautiful city of Napoli, a city filled with culture and history, the heart of the Italian authenticity. A film that takes you for a walk through essential philosophical questions such as the true essence of Beauty and the ephemeral youth. To put it into a nutshell, I would say Parthenope is a BEAUTIFUL DEPRESSING movie.

The main issue with Parthenope is that it adds nothing new to Paolo Sorrentino's filmography. Too many familiar scenes, too many obsessions already portrayed, too many mannerisms endlessly repeated. While it's true that cigarettes have become a signature of the director, when every actor-from the beautiful lead to the extras in the background-keeps lighting one up, it quickly becomes cloying, if not outright ridiculous. I truly enjoy Sorrentino's cinema, but the excitement I felt leaving the theatre after watching The Consequences of Love is now only a faint memory, faded like the summer youth that once was.