PARTHENOPE

Played by newcomer Celeste Dalla Porta, Parthenope spends her teenage years splashing about her seaside castle house, to the lustful enthusiasm of the eyes of all the men around her. Rowing boats stop to gawk at her, and men thrice her age beg her to stay in their vicinity. Two players wildly infatuated by her allure are Sandrino (Dario Aita, 'Primadonna') – the housekeeper's son and Raimonda (Daniela Rienzo, short film 'Axioma') – unfortunately also her brother. When Raimondo takes his own life soon after, Parthenope chooses to pursue her relationship with the Sandrino, Parthenope is shunned from her family. She turns to anthropological academia to research suicide (and later, miracles) under the academic guidance of a curt professor played by Silvio Orlando ('The Caiman'). Her growing promise in academia is threaded with vignettes of adventures around Italy with a collective of one-note characters rivalling those on a Guess Who board –– a jaded writer (a random Gary Oldman!), a disgraced movie star, a once-pretty acting coach, a sinful priest.

'Parthenope' is undeniably a gorgeous film. The cinematography by Daria D'Antonio ('The Hand of God') is ravishingly decadent, keen to soak up every bit of blue water and sky the setting of Naples has to offer. I found the score charming, and the production and costume design suave. It's not an exaggeration to say that 'Parthenope' best evocates a really expensive fashion or perfume ad – Sorrentino indulges in slow-motion shots of sun-kissed skin more often than not – with more style than substance. Sorrentino is so obsessed over Pathenope as an object that his explorations of her as a person with ambition and talent fall incredibly flat. It is perhaps incredibly telling that Parthenope has no female friends of her own, and the only two female characters that she meets along her journey – disgraced actress Greta Cool (Luisi Ranieri, 'The Hand of God') and disfigured acting coach Flora Malva (Isabella Ferrari, 'The Great Beauty') – sorely impart to her the dangers of losing beauty and the fall from grace that comes with it. When the film floats towards a final commentary on love and beauty with the reveal of her professor's son and his physicality, and a time jump to a retired Parthenope who has found academic success at the expense of loneliness, Sorrentino's commentary on womanhood feels trite.

The star of 'Parthenope' is the city itself, framed by cinematographer Daria D'Antonio who makes each silhouette tempting and each frame dazzling. The titular character, however, is not so lucky. Parthenope finds herself lost in the excess of a vision uninterested in truly accommodating her, and a world just not ready enough to understand her.