Keswick Film Club - Reviews - Parthenope

This characteristically sumptuous drama from director Paolo Sorrentino ('The Great Beauty') tells the mythical story of a beautiful young woman who wanders through life - mostly on the arm of one handsome man or another - wondering whether this is a curse or blessing. Celeste Dalla Porta doesn't disappoint as the siren-like Parthenope, a woman as smart as she is attractive, and holds the line as Sorrentino spins his usual web of gorgeous imagery, lush camera glides and knowing references around her.

There are standout sequences: Sylvia Orlando is truly loveable as the now weary but brilliant professor of anthropology , Peppe Lanzetta as a raddled roué of a cardinal is particularly entertaining, while Gary Oldman enjoys a brief cameo playing the real-life American author John Cheever, who asks Parthenope the key question, "Are you aware of the disruption your beauty causes?" Unfortunately, for all the intelligence with which the film riffs on this theme, the lack of a decent plot becomes at times frustrating, the relentlessly chilled pace enervating and the sense of Sorrentino parodying himself eventually overwhelming. The film looks a billion dollars, at least, and maybe that's why, despite its many flaws it remains a joy to watch Sorrentino's Parthenope; whether in his beloved Rome, or here in his birthplace Naples, it is like seeing a Caravaggio painting brought to life.