Cinema often reflects the places and experiences that shape a director’s vision. For Paolo Sorrentino, Naples remains a deep well of inspiration that has guided two of his recent films. After the deeply personal drama The Hand of God tells of his coming of age there, Sorrentino returns to those nostalgic shores with Parthenope.
The film centers on a young woman named after the mythical founder of Naples, Parthenope. Born in 1950 to great beauty, she floats through vivid summer days, soaking in all the city and its colorful people have to offer. But beyond her allure that turns heads, Parthenope seeks to understand herself—what desires guide her heart and how her curiosity might find purpose.
To capture Parthenope’s journey, Sorrentino wields the full colors of his cinematic palette. Dreamlike sequences, biting social portraits, and stunning Neapolitan scenery all bend to exploring youth, its fleeting joys, and struggles to come to know one’s self. Through his young subject and the director’s distinct visual language of memory, Parthenope takes audiences on a pastoral walk through a homeland that shaped Sorrentino and the woman who learns from its rich lessons in living.
Souls of Naples
Parthenope’s journey spans decades in Naples, a city that has shaped countless souls. Born in 1950 near the fabled waters where legend says her namesake met her end, she floats through vivid youth in Sorrentino’s vision of her hometown.
Celeste Dalla Porta brings Parthenope to life with a captivating blend of curiosity, allure, and longing for purpose beyond beauty’s surface. In her feature debut, Dalla Porta imbues every scene with a depth that draws viewers fully into her character’s story. We see Parthenope come of age—from carefree teenage summers dancing on whims of passion to moments of loss that send her spirit adrift as a young woman.
Along the way, Naples’ colorful figures leave impressions on Parthenope’s unfolding journey. There is her anthropology professor, a man offering wisdom beyond seduction’s empty promises. Played with gruff charm by Silvio Orlando, he becomes a mentor to Parthenope’s thirst for deeper understanding. She also finds a fleeting connection in Sandrino, portrayed with warm sincerity by Dario Aita, whose heart she owns from youth into the bittersweetness of growing apart.
In a standout scene, Parthenope meets the acclaimed writer John Cheever, brought to life by Gary Oldman’s subtle genius. Their heartfelt conversation conveys how fully Sorrentino grasps the city he depicts, down to the small but profound details of life there. As with Cheever, Naples seems to leave philosophy in unexpected places, poetry amid the daily struggles that comprise its pulse.
By the film’s end, Italian icon Stefania Sandrelli breathes soul into Parthenope’s later years, closing her storyarc with an empowerment born from life’s curves. Throughout, Sorrentino’s camera dances across the stages where Naples shapes its people, capturing what makes their hometown unlike any other on earth.
The Worlds of Parthenope
Paolo Sorrentino transports viewers to dreamlike realms through his distinct visual storytelling in Parthenope. The film sees the director once again exploring the people and places central to his life, and no element of its craft is more crucial to this journey. Working with longtime collaborators, Sorrentino populates the screen with indelible worlds that bring the drama’s characters and settings vibrantly to life.
Cinematographer Daria D’Antonio acts as a masterful guide through these worlds, her lens capturing the essence of locations in beautiful detail. She films the Mediterranean coastlines and seas with a sweeping romanticism that conveys geography’s deep influence. Naples particularly feels like a living, breathing entity under her watch. Whether surveying its towering vistas or intimate alleys, D’Antonio’s camera reflects the city’s soul across generations.
Production designs further immerse the audience in Parthenope’s era. Costume designer Carlo Poggioli dresses the cast impeccably, their evolving styles perfectly synchronized to the characters’ arcs. Parthenope especially undergoes a multifaceted transformation, and Poggioli brings each phase to radiant life. Fellow designer Carmine Guarino brings comparable nuance to environments like Parthenope’s palatial family home. Laden with cultural resonances, the setting becomes a vivid character in its own right.
Sorrentino’s masterful mise-en-scène also breathes magic into mundane moments. He layers visual poetry into scenes through subtle stylistic choices and framings that enhance emotional beats. Stage dimensions further heighten the drama’s most intimate exchanges or expansive vistas. The result is a living portrait of personal growth amid society’s changes, brought to full sensory life through Sorrentino’s incomparable artistry behind the camera. Parthenope lives and breathes across its runtime thanks to his guidance and vision.
Reflections of a Changing World
Parthenope explores profound themes that resonate long after the end credits. The film traces its titular character’s journey to self-discovery against the backdrop of societal fluctuations in Naples. Through Parthenope’s eyes, Sorrentino examines shifting views of femme beauty, tradition, and humanity itself across generations.
A central idea is the fleeting nature of youthful beauty. Parthenope grapples with objectification by those enthralled by her looks, from admiring peers to lecherous elders. She senses her allure, which defines her for some. Yet her intellect and curiosity hint at deeper depths below the surface. Sorrentino highlights beauty’s ephemerality compared to one’s inner spirit and accomplishments.
Parthenope pursues knowledge with academic zeal, finding mentorship that nurtures her independence of thought. Through her relationship with her professor, the film questions what really matters: temporary physical attraction or forging an identity and its impact beyond it. Her growing autonomy contrasts with the male characters’ fixations on Parthenope as an object of desire.
Sorrentino also spotlights tradition clashing with progress, embodied in the divide between youth and their predecessors. Parthenope volunteers as an actress, bonding with promising newcomers while learning from veterans embittered by ageism. A diva’s rants capture nostalgia for ways changing, whether for good or ill. The director respects the old while embracing what the new Parthenope helps create.
Finally, viewers glimpse a city evolving across eras yet tied to its roots. Naples retains its beauty and vibrancy but also faces problems outsiders criticize. Through diverse characters, the film sees a location that embraces its history yet is continually reborn. Parthenope comes to perceive herself and her hometown as works continually in progress—neither defined by any single view nor phase, but rather their whole dynamic stories.
Reflecting on Themes and Technique
In Paolo Sorrentino’s newest film, Parthenope, viewers witness familiar sentiments and his signature style, yet with new angles that feel fresh. The Neapolitan nostalgia conjured so poignantly in The Hand of God returns through Parthenope’s vibrant city. Yet this story focuses less on one protagonist, branching out to capture varied lives across eras.
Similarly to The Great Beauty, Parthenope explores desire’s interplay with religion and society’s decline. But where Jep’s decadent Rome hinted at hollowness, Naples seems held in more complex regard—a place changing yet timelessly beautiful, problems and all. Sorrentino reflects the diversity of views, from a diva bitter at perceived criticism to characters embracing progress alongside tradition.
Maximalism also marks Parthenope as a Sorrentino film. Scenes unfold nonlinearly, with more snapshots capturing emotions than driving narratives. But Parthenope sees his experimentation evolve. Swirling between past and present, it reflects the spiraling, associated nature of memory better than works prior. Figures live not just for the moment but as their influence reverberates through later lives, much like the legacies of places.
In capturing a young woman’s journey, Sorrentino also adds new layers. Parthenope develops beyond objectification as we peel back façades to find the dreams and intellect within. Her curious spirit feels like a fitting guide through Sorrentino’s sprawling, sensual visions of a city he holds so dear. In Parthenope, his style has found a perfect marriage of form and heart.
A Visual Odyssey’s Promise
With Parthenope, Sorrentino has crafted another sublimely shot exploration of life’s profound yet fleeting wonders. Just as his visions of Rome and Naples past transport us, here his hometown comes alive in all its complexity and beauty through Parthenope’s eyes.
Celeste Dalla Porta deserves much praise for her haunting portrayal of a woman awakening to herself. Parthenope feels fully realized as an individual, not just an ideal, thanks to Dalla Porta’s emotionally brilliant work. She brings an illuminating empathy to Sorrentino’s intentionally perplexing protagonist.
While some may find Sorrentino’s nonlinear style disorienting, for patient viewers, it’s a gift—few filmmakers can so envelop us in a character’s sensory experiences across eras. Parthenope touches on heady topics, but Sorrentino’s incomparable camera sits us beside his subjects, feeling their humanity beyond words.
It’s sure to entice both die-hard fans and those new to his oeuvre worldwide. In Italy, especially, it will captivate millions with its heartfelt ode to a culture so pivotal to Sorrentino. Yet beyond destinations, Parthenope is a universal journey. By the film’s end, its mysterious siren may remain elusive, but our hearts will know her better for Sorrentino sharing his world with us.
The Review
Parthenope
Paolo Sorrentino once again immerses viewers in a feast for the senses with Parthenope. While some may find its structure perplexing, for open-minded audiences, it eloquently reflects the spiraling, dreamlike nature of memory and desire. Celebrate Dalla Porta anchors the film with a captivating turn that humanizes its initially enigmatic protagonist. Sorrentino wields his camera like a storyteller's brush, transporting us within richly drawn characters against his beloved city as their backdrop.
PROS
- Captivating visuals and production design that transport the viewer
- Fascinating exploration of complex themes like memory, desire, and the fleeting nature of beauty and youth
- Strong central performance by Celeste Dalla Porta that anchors the nonlinear narrative
- Poetic and sensorial storytelling that immerses you in Sorrentino's vivid visions
CONS
- Highly nonlinear and abstract narrative structure that may confuse or frustrate some
- At times, style seems to be prioritized over substance or character development.
- Could be perceived as overly indulgent or self-indulgent.
