In ‘Parthenope,' Paolo Sorrentino Has Nothing New to Say [Cannes]

I’m not sure why A24 recently decided that it was a good idea to acquire Paolo Sorrentino’s “Parthenope,” but the film just screened at Cannes and it’s incredibly vacuous and flat. It plays like a glitz model ad mixed in with faux-philosophical ruminations.

The movie follows the most beautiful woman in the world, Parthenope (Celeste Dalla Porta), who born in the sea of Naples in 1950, searches for happiness over the long summers of her youth, falling in love with her home city, and its many memorable characters. She’s also the best student in her class. What’s the message Sorrentino is trying to convey here? There’s depth hidden in every beauty?

Gary Oldman shows up at some point as alcoholic, and Pulitzer winning writer John Cheever — it’s the exact same character he played in Mank. There’s a mosaic of other people here, many of which lust for Parthenope, including her brother who ends up killing himself because he can’t have her.

Dalla Porta is a stunningly attractive woman that I could somewhat understand why Sorrentino would want to base an entire film on her, but his indulgences here are a bit too much. There are only so many shots of her that we can take before we just become numb. In a way, Sorrentino is starting to become his own parody, repeating himself in almost every film.

This one definitely plays like a Sorrentino film — lush photography, fetishizing beautiful people, hip needle drops and a nearly plotless narrative. It’s all about the vibes, as they say, but vibes can’t solely sustain a 136-minute movie. You need more. There’s isn’t much depth to “Parthenope.”

Sorrentino is coming off 2021’s “The Hand of God,” which won him the Grand Jury Prize at Venice and was nominated for Best International Film at the Oscars. Other notable works in his filmography include “The Great Beauty” and “Il Divo.”