Introduction
Parthenope is a lavish visual and emotional spectacle of a coming-of-age film created by Paolo Sorrentino. Sorrentino is recognized for his philosophical and visually stunning works like The Great Beauty and Youth. He is back with one of his most ambitious projects to date: a sprawling narrative set in Naples that follows a woman’s odyssey through time, love, identity, and myth. The film first premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, receiving acclaim and divided reactions. Parthenope is an intertwine of the lyrical with the tragic, and the real with the symbolic.
As she is an ancient siren of Greek mythology, her name is forever tied to Naples. Parthenope is not merely a character study, but also a reflection on a city steeped in passion, history, and contradiction. It’s a film that contemplates the complex question of whether beauty is a blessing or a curse, and if the past ever truly abandons those who inhabit it.
Plot Overview
In 1950, Bay of Naples serves as the background of the book as a baby girl named Parthenope is born into a noble family with the alleged protection of a local powerful figure named Achille Lauro. She grows up with an older brother named Raimondo and a childhood friend named Sandrino whose mother is a maid. Right from the start, Parthenope is labeled as a breathtakingly beautiful girl. This “gift” is always something that upsets her, and ultimately becomes a burden.
During her university, dedication towards her understanding of the course brought her a scholar as a great friend under the name of Devoto Marotta. The friendships around her, especially with Sandrino and Raimondo, start becoming challenging. Disturbing as it is, an obsession burns within both boys. A drastic step is taken by Raimondo, who tragically ends his life after finding out that Parthenope and Sandrino have been intimate.
Following her trauma, Parthenope tries to escape her pain by seeking new experiences. She briefly takes up acting, which later on subjects her to a surreal and dark ritual from the Camorra. During this ritual, she is asked to “conceive” a son for one of their crime lords. This moment in the film, filled with haunting, religious, and sexual motifs, is one of the most abstract and disturbing.
Later, she becomes pregnant and decides to opt for an abortion. This moment, and her decision to have the procedure, becomes a pivotal moment in her life. Parthenope’s life is changed by the encouragement of Marotta, her academic advisor, who wants her to pursue a teaching role in Trento. Although she is impulsively captivated by the idea of having a new life in Trento and an academic career, she is equally hesitant to have to leave her beloved city of Naples. Ultimately, she decides to leave Naples.
In the film’s last act, taking place in 2023, we see an elderly Parthenope looking introspectively on her life with sad smiles. As a now-respected professor, she travels back to Naples and Capri, reminiscing in soft-spoken thoughts of her past. the film ends symbolically hinting toward her seemingly aging, but eternally tied to her youth, with Naples, and the myth she grew up with.
Main Cast and Performances
Celeste Dalla Porta stars as young Parthenope in a breakout role. She captures the character’s growth from youthful vibrancy to emotionally weighed down suffering woman with elegance and restraint.
Stefania Sandrelli further depicts the older Parthenope, adding to the role’s reflective and quietly poetic qualities that require depth and gravitas.
Oldman depicts the American writer John Cheever, who has a short but impactful role as a touchstone in Parthenope’s life. He is one of the few characters who seems immune to her allure and provides a rare moment of honesty and disillusionment.
Orlando as Professor Devoto Marotta contributes to the moral and intellectual head of the film in the grounding the film with philosophy instead of erotic obsession.
The richly textured world of Parthenope’s Naples is also populated by Jodelle Ferland, Luisa Ranieri, Isabella Ferrari and others.
Themes and Analysis
Beauty as Burden
As throughout the film, Parthenope’s beauty is both an advantage and disadvantage. While her beauty provides access to elite circles, intense romance, and intellectual attention, it also comes with objectification, intense jealousy, and profound psychological harm. Sorrentino explores beauty’s isolating qualities and how it reduces the subject to a symbol, rather than a person.
Naples as a Myth and Memory
Naples serves as a vibrant character of a story rather than just a setting. You can feel its sensual disorder, spiritual contradictions, and timeless beauty in every scene. There, Parthenope is born, gets hurt, and eventually reborn. Her story parallels the city’s history of love, loss, and a mythical punch.
Time and Identity
The passage of time is a major narrative arc. The film explores Parthenope’s life from her young teenage years to her old age, contemplating the different life experiences and roles one goes through in life. Rather than time as a linear progression, Sorrentino treats time as a dream—circular, liquid in nature, and filled with recurring echoes.
Feminine Mythology
The mythology Sorrentino Parthenop is drawing from, in particular the siren Parthenope, whose voice, in semblance of Greek mythology, could enchant and destroy. Modern Parthenope exists under the shadow of her myth. She fights against it but is pulled into becoming a lover, a muse, a goddess, or a victim.
Visual Style and Direction
The work of Daria D’Antonio as cinematographer is nothing short of remarkable. She makes Naples, Capri, and Trento look like a work of art, emotionally evoking the viewers with the use of natural lighting and wide angle lenses. The scenes beam with a certain mood like the calm and sunny, elegant porches or lavish celebration.
Through fashion, Saint Laurent brings Parthenope to life as a dreamscape. As always, Sorrentino balances indulgence with a hint of melancholy in each frame. The film’s progress is calm and each part is well-timed, allowing organic evolution throughout each sequence.
Reception and Critical Response
During its premiere in Cannes, Parthenope received a standing ovation, although responses have varied. While many considered this film to be Sorrentino’s revival with a magnificent performance, some argued its emotional detachment and lack of depth in narration. Critiques have been made towards the existence of Parthenope as an ideal figure, lacking the qualities of a fully fleshed human.
Regardless of the opinions, there is collective agreement in acknowledging the strikiness of the film’s ambition and the contradictory approaches to crafting it. The film is distinct as a cinematic poem, reminiscent in many ways to The Great Beauty and Youth.
Conclusion
More so than its plot, Parthenope leaves an impression through feeling. The film centers on memories, myths, and the notion of identity, which for a multitude of women, focuses on societal beauty and expectations. Sorrentino tells a story with the city of Naples, depicting it as simultaneously a birthplace and final resting place for dreams, where reality and fable intertwine.
Fueled by stunning visuals, a breakout performance, and existential themes, Parthenope portrays the hypnotic and heartbreaking journey of a timeless woman. The film isn’t for everyone, but those ready to give in to its flow will be rewarded with a cinematic experience that is hauntingly beautiful.
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