When I made the Festival calendar, the first film I chose was Parthenope. Not knowing what it was, before I read the synopsis, I knew I had to see it, because it was from director Paolo Sorrentino. My roommate and roommate always tells me that I’m an “excited” with that director, and he’s right, but all of his movies I’ve seen seem like masterpieces. Youth (Youth) and La grande bellezza (Supreme Beauty) are, in my opinion, works of a different level. Parthenope is also a film completely stuck in the style of the director; if you liked the others, you will like this too.
The film shows the life of Parthenope (Celeste Dalla Porta) until he was born in 1950 and becomes older. However, as is customary in the director’s work, rather than the importance of history, I have put the film as a dissertation on more general issues. Above all, Parthenope talks about beauty: the beauty of the human being, because the protagonist presents us as the most beautiful woman of all time, and analyzes the effect that this produces in his environment. On the other hand, the other issues relate to Naples (Parthenope at its source), religion, wealth and poverty, man’s behaviour and many more.
I would like to highlight two ideas about work. First of all, sometimes I think it focuses too much on the sexualization of women and becomes uncomfortable. It is very difficult to make a correct and sincere analysis of the male gaze, and I have many doubts that sometimes does not pass the line: from the analysis to fetishism. Secondly, I would like to point out the immense power of Sorrentino to make the viewer believe in the absolutes: The cinematic tricks he uses to prove that Parthenope is the most beautiful woman in the world not only say she's beautiful, but they make him believe that she's the most beautiful in the world, although that doesn't exist in reality, of course. The mention of the absolute is usually very common in the director's films, for example, La grande bellezza has already written the best book of his life, and is not able to seek inspiration or overcome the fear of previous success.
It's an aesthetically excellent film, and it's very advanced in conversations. Moreover, I would say that I have not been able to understand the intention of much of the film and, after leaving the film, it has left me a very rare feeling, as always happens to me. More than an article, I would need a long interview with a friend who's seen the movie to sort out and shape ideas: there's the invitation, if someone cheers up. But that unexplained feeling has come back there again, and that's why it's the most beloved movie I've ever seen.
Cold winter: personal and modest
In the afternoon session at Kursaal we saw Hiver à Sokcho (Negua Sokchon) in one of these special programmes with the director and the group. This is an adaptation of the namesake book, the first feature film by director Koya Kamura. After calming down a little the strong emotions generated by the morning movie, I have been very well served by this quieter and simpler film.
Soo-Ha (Bella Kim) is a 25-year-old woman living in Sokchon, South Korea, who never met her father because she was a French fisherman. During a work trip, she met her mother and left her unknowingly pregnant. He then returned to France, where nothing else was known. Soo-H works in a small hostel, as a cook and waiter, and suddenly a French tourist arrives. In search of inspiration comes to Sokchora the comedian and painter Yan Kerrand (Roschdy Zem), and Soo-Ha, who knows French, will teach him the city in the cold winter. The spectators have seen the relationship between them and the parallelism between Yan Kerrand and and Soo-Bere, the lost father, will be important.
As we have already said, this film is not one of those dedicated to ostentation. It is a smaller production, which shows the picture of a daily life, with more common circumstances. The relationship between Soo-Ha and her partner, or her mother, among other things. But this simplicity works on serious issues such as abandonment, loneliness, social pressure and eating disorders... In addition, in some moments, very beautiful, handcrafted animations help tell the most abstract aspects of history, along with good music.
I didn't think it was an amazing film, but it was nice and intimate. This feeling has also been heightened in the post-movie conversation, when protagonist Bella Kim and director Koya Kamura talked about the project, explaining more personal connections, such as dual nationality or experience with eating disorders.
Bound in Heaven
Address: Xin Huo
Country: China
Duration: 109 minutes
Premiere: Not implemented
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