Juventude

As a younger man, I probably wouldn't have cared much for this movie, because as a younger man, I wasn't preoccupied with getting older, and the consequences of reaching the September of my life.

However, as a musician, photographer, and a baby boomer, I absolutely loved it. I would have given it 10 stars except for a poorly written character trait implied in Michael Cain's "Fred Ballinger" to appeal to the gay community for God knows what reason. It doesn't fit into the character's personality or lifestyle at all, and so it made no sense and was purely gratuitous.

Aside from that issue, and the fact that the movie begins with a female singer (Maria Letizia Gorga) who is so talent-less, I have to mute the remote until she is finished, I found this movie to be a "masterpiece", combining sights, sounds and thoughts in a totally original fashion, and takes place in a setting I can't recall ever seeing in any other motion picture. In contrast to the opening singer, the last singer (Sumi Jo) is "extremely" talented.

The acting is flawless from all involved, as is the casting, sets, editing, and most of all: 'the music'. I have since purchased the blu-ray of this film, and have watched it more times than I'd care to admit, and I've never been able to control my emotions at the very end with the voice of an angel soprano singing her heart out to a song that not only should have been nominated for an Oscar (it was), but should have won it hands down. 'Simple Song #3'

If you're an action addict, this film isn't for you. However, if you like beautiful scenery, music, and talent from all involved, you may like this film as much as I did: One of my top ten favorites.

What a Beautiful Film, i Think it's too late to say This one it's a must See, Don't Mind The Negative Reviews.

When it comes to Paolo Sorrentino I don't know what to expect. On one hand I loved his first English work "This Must Be The Place" starring a wonderful Sean Penn; on the other hand I didn't quite enjoy his Oscar Winner "The Great Beauty". I was actually afraid this one was going to be another attempt at being Fellini. But Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Paul Dano and Rachel Weisz gave me the push to watch it. I'm glad I didn't wait, because this is Sorrentino's greatest beauty.

Youth is a brilliant, intense, philosophical, and moving film about life and death, youth and oldness, loneliness and friendship.

As I watched the film I thought the title was deceiving. I thought it was only about being old, and I couldn't find the real meaning of it. But as I'm writing this, has passed almost a week since I saw it, and I've got enough time to think about it. Now, I do realize it is about the importance of youth, because it praises old age as that moment in life when you think about your past.

Masterfully directed and written by Paolo Sorrentino, the film is enhanced by a deep, witty, and provocative dialogue, a wonderful and breathtaking photography by Luca Bigazzi, spectacular scenography, and sublime music.

The acting is first class. Michael Caine shines in the leading role, delivering an intense performance as Fred Ballinger. The supporting cast does a wonderful job as well. Old, but young inside Harvey Keitel, and young, but old inside Paul Dano are perfect in portraying the contrast between youth and oldness. Rachel Weisz delivers another great performance. Jane Fonda's cameo is great too. The one that surprised me the most is Luna Zimic Mijovic, who plays the masseuse.

Read more at afilmadaybysonia.blogspot.com

Once again, Paolo Sorrentino proves to be a master of cinema and doesn't disappoint. The story is set in an apparently isolated place: a luxury hotel in the mountains of Switzerland inhabited mainly by artists and people from the show business (curious the reference to Maradona, thanked by Sorrentino during his Oscar acceptance speech).

Youth is a tender film in both the characters and the themes: growing old and the fears related to it are common to all men. Fred (Michael Caine) is an old man who still has a lot going on in his life: he has to deal with friendship, love, family and his career. The only thing that makes him different from the younger people surrounding him is that he is aware of memory. It is through memory that he has lost and that he tries to regain his identity. Everyone in the film is in search for identity: the contrast between how people see them and what they want to be seen as.

The screenplay is complex and intense and for this reason sometimes hard to follow. I loved the irony Sorrentino always puts in his movies: through surrealism he is capable of expressing humanity in a simple but yet beautiful way. All the cast delivers great performances and cinematography is absorbing as always. Sorrentino is a director of places: no matter if it is the Eternal City of Rome or an hotel immersed in nature - he is able to capture all the beauty of it.

What the film teaches us, in the end, is that we are what we do - so, I'd add, it's better if we do what we are - but we are nothing without love, which is the driving force of humanity.

I'm not a professional in film reviews, to begin with. I'm just an University student who's got an enormous passion for cinema. It was years since a movie moved my soul in such a profound way. I was stunned when I saw that the movie summed up a 7.5 rating here on IMDb. I thought about this fact for some days, then I kind of make up my answer. "Youth" is the symbol of many struggles in cinema and in people's mind. American movies and many Europeans ones as well are so easy to like, just because they're easy to follow. They show facts, actions, somehow explained by words and some ideas. Ideas are like the salt we put on on our meals to make them tasty. Films like "Youth" are the exact opposite: words and ideas are the "meal", and a few actions are the "salt". Actually all the actions are at the end of the movie, they could be perceived as a climax, but they're more like the conclusion of complex exchanges of ideas throughout the movie. I won't comment about technical features, because I don't have the expertise to do it. I just say that the soundtrack is somewhere near perfection, editing as well and there some beautifully shot scenes. As I said, my concern is not about that. "Youth" make the viewer think about life, old age, ethics, it accompanies us through some beautiful ideas, and this is where all pros and cons stay. This movie doesn't look for easy ways to impress the viewer, to make him/her somehow forcefully interested to what the screen shows, it requests an open mind and what I ironically call "the 51st shade": a fetish to thoughts, not only to material things. Some people don't like Sorrentino because they consider him a "radical chic intellectual". It is a righteous choice to be against "intellectualism" whatsoever, but it is as well righteous to be against ignorance.