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Film Search
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Well, there’s little doubt that Paolo Sorrentino is really fascinated with aging white artists contemplating their mortality. But while that notion worked perfectly in his gorgeous Oscar-winning Italian-language film The Great Beauty, a whole lot is lost in the translation to English. Set at a Swiss hotel/spa, it primarily follows two men facing the end of their creative lives: Fred Ballinger (Michael Caine), a celebrated composer/conductor resisting attempts to come out of retirement for a royal performance; and Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel), a filmmaker struggling to get his latest movie finished. Circling around them are various secondary characters—Ballinger’s daughter (Rachel Weisz); a young actor (Paul Dano); Boyle’s long-time leading lady (Jane Fonda)—whose dramas allow Sorrentino plenty of opportunity to make use of the lovely mountain scenery and his always-impressive compositions. But the character interactions within those individual scenes border on the excruciating, full of pseudo-profound nonsense about love and death and creativity, with few moments that feel remotely real. The last few minutes finally find Sorrentino pulling together his emotional threads, but by that point, you’ve endured two hours wishing these people spoke a language you couldn’t understand.
Official Site: www.foxsearchlight.com/youth
Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Producer: Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima, Carlotta Calori and Viola Prestieri
Cast: Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz, Paul Dano, Jane Fonda, Mark Kozelek, Robert Seethaler, Alex MacQueen, Luna Mijovic, Tom Lipinski, Chloe Pirrie, Alex Beckett, Nate Dern, Mark Gessner, Paloma Faith, Ed Stoppard, Madalina Ghenea and Sumi Jo
Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Producer: Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima, Carlotta Calori and Viola Prestieri
Cast: Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz, Paul Dano, Jane Fonda, Mark Kozelek, Robert Seethaler, Alex MacQueen, Luna Mijovic, Tom Lipinski, Chloe Pirrie, Alex Beckett, Nate Dern, Mark Gessner, Paloma Faith, Ed Stoppard, Madalina Ghenea and Sumi Jo
