Final Rating: 3/5
Set primarily in director Paolo Sorrentino’s home city of Naples, A24’s Parthenope follows a girl from her birth in 1950 until her retirement in 2023 as a successful anthropology professor. As Parthenope comes of age in the 70s and 80s, she does so in a changing Italy. Sorrentino’s film is ultimately less of a character study and more of a nostalgic, almost fantastical look at a version of Naples just barely out of reach.
Celeste Dalla Porta is great as the titular Parthenope, an upper-class Neapolitan overachiever who cultivates an air of mystery around her. But instead of being characterized through her curious interactions with authors, bishops, and literal mystical beings, Parthenope instead becomes a woman defined first and foremost by a single tragedy at the end of the first act.
While Parthenope’s impenetrableness imbues her with a captivating charm, it also makes her character frustrating to watch. Despite the depth of emotion Della Porta brings to the character, Parthenope is too scarcely written.
The movie is structured as a series of vignettes, the titular character carried through settings and storylines that work better alone than together. Save for a few admittedly powerful moments, whatever is under the surface isn’t allowed to bubble up. She’ll go on a trip – sometimes alone, sometimes with her brother and childhood friend – meet a new notable supporting character and then move on to the next adventure.
Gary Oldman plays Parthenope’s favourite author, John Cheever, an old man wallowing in the sadness of a life not lived to its fullest. The two meet in 1973 – 8 years before the death of the real Cheever – and have a brief, emotional affair, though Cheever, struggling with doubts about his sexuality, refuses to go further than light conversation.
Pepe Lanzetta plays Vescovo, a bishop of a church visited by Parthenope in 1983. Though the church has recently hosted a miracle – which fits nicely into Parthenope’s anthropological research – the bishop has nothing but disdain for his congregation, and disbelief in whatever miraculous thing has just interrupted his easy life. Instead, the bishop spends his time with Parthenope seducing her while talking about his aspirations of becoming pope.
During a brief period in which Parthenope explores an acting career, she encounters renowned Neapolitan actress Flora Malva (Isabella Ferrari). Malva is eccentric and reclusive. In the aftermath of her playwright husband’s death, she spends her days pretending to be busy getting ready to host guests, while putting on a commanding performance for any who actually arrive. In her interaction with Parthenope, the two mirror each other: each employing an outgoing but impenetrable exterior to deal with a crushing internal loneliness.
These are only a few of the supporting cast who Parthenope encounters on her travels. Luckily, Sorrentino seems more at home writing these side characters. Cheever is an American artist and tourist who comes to Europe to escape some indescribable despair, only to realize his depression wasn’t localized to the States. Vescovo is a hypocritical priest, who is, ironically, fed up with the perceived hypocrisy of his congregation. Malva, along with her protégé Greta Cool (Luisa Ranieri), aren’t just actresses, they’re divas who proudly own the title, looking down on the Naples they feel they have grown beyond.
The Italy of Parthenope is beautifully realized. Cinematographer Daria D’Antonio captures jaw-dropping shots that range from majestic views of islands in the Gulf of Naples, to more intimate scenes of Parthenope and the people in her life. The score by Lele Marchitelli evokes a nostalgia for the little moments of life, with motifs that first appear in tender scenes unexpectedly recurring to tie pieces of the film that at first seem disconnected.
The feelings Parthenope evokes through the look and sound of the film is often immaculate. At times, it’s easy to lose yourself in the Naples Sorrentino so clearly loves. But every now and then through its 2-hour runtime, Parthenope loses just enough momentum that the illusion is broken.
Thank you to Mongrel Media, A24 and StarPR for the screener.
