Parthenope

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.

I believe this film has a lot more in common with last year's other hit, The Substance, than you might think. Because in my opinion, Parthenope shouldn't be seen as a human character: she represents Youth itself. Anyone who is attracted to Parthenope is actually attracted to Youth.

"She's always fleeing," says her brother Raimondo, because Youth is a substance that constantly slips through our fingers like sand.

I think there is also an obvious parallel with Aphrodite, who was born from sea foam: Parthenope was born in the water of the Mediterranean Sea.

But nice metaphors, analogies and beautiful cinematography are not enough to touch my soul. For me, this film is only a faint shadow of La grande bellezza. I couldn't help but compare the two films and think that Sorrentino put much more soul into La grande bellezza, because he understands men, but not so much women.

What also disappointed me in this film was the acting of Celeste Dalla Porta and Dario Aita: it's not my cup of tea at all, I found their performance very forced. Although I enjoyed the acting of Luisa Ranieri and Gary Oldman.

Overall, it definitely won't be my favorite Sorrentino film.

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.

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.

May be Parthenope is not the best, but I still think it might be my personal favorite among all of Sorrentino's films.

For me, it is not about history, religion, philosophy, or even family, but simply the story of a young goddess experiencing the beauty, love, desire and sorrow of life-a film that ultimately turns the gaze back to our everyone's own lives. So fragile, so nonsensical, so bizarre, so contradictory, so meaningless-yet still met with both smiles and tears in the face of reality... o forse non è così.

I don't see Parthenope as a "moralized lecture" that offers answers or explanations. On the contrary, it feels like a breathtaking and poetic piece of prose that touches me deeply.