Youth

Dir: Paolo Sorrentino

2015

***

Quite typically of Paolo Sorrentino, his 2015 film Youth is a feast for the senses. The problem I had however, was that half way through I felt as if I was being force-fed. His 2013 masterpiece The Great Beauty is one of my favourite films of all time, while Youth shares a certain something with it, it also feels like a poor man's version or a half-hearted imitation. Michael Caine's performance is good, don't get me wrong there, but this character is for the likes of Toni Servillo or Michel Piccoli and almost feels like it had been written for them instead. Caine's character's relationship with Harvey Keitel's is very watchable but I never felt it to be convincing, although Keitel is also very good in his role. I once said of Sorrentino that he was the next Fellini, Rossellini or Pier Paolo Pasolini but Youth felt more like early Michael Gondry (the confusing bits), Danny Boyle (the bits that spoil it) and Steven Soderbergh (the poorly executed post-modernism). I'm afraid Yorgos Lanthimos is already making what this film wants to be and he's doing a much better job of it. I loved Il Divo and I disliked This must be the Place, so maybe it's an English language thing, I don't know. I loved the script and I loved the idea, I think it was woefully miscast but the visuals were nothing short of stunning throughout the entire film. I particularly liked Sorrentino's use of composition and colour and while I liked watching Caine conduct a heard of cows, Diego Maradona play keepy uppie with a tennis ball, Paul Dano eating breakfast as Adolf Hitler and Jane Fonda playing an exaggerated misconception of herself, I absolutely hated Paloma Faith appearing as herself and hated the film turning into a fake-Paloma Faith music video even more so. Celebrities playing themselves in all-star cast films is something of a pet-hate of mine but not since 2004's Ocean's 12 has it been so awful. I found it to be visually rich but lacking the depth of story to match. It's one step forward one scene, one step back the next. After The Great Beauty I felt enriched, inspired and excited, after Youth I expected the same, a bit of melancholia would have been something but I just felt deflated, disappointed and a bit down. Credit due but overall and considering, it's a bit of a damp squib.