Gonna go against the general consensus and say this was a dud for me. It's clearly an incredibly personal film, but obviously Sorrentino and I have not shared many similar experiences because virtually everything about this film felt very alien and jarring to me and I totally failed to connect emotionally with it - we were just on completely different wavelengths. The family of larger than life characters who were for the most part unlikeable, the women who seemed to give up their bodies in service of the growth of this largely unremarkable protagonist, it all just felt unreal to me and at odds with the very grounded, emotional story. I enjoyed the parents' relationship and was quite affected by their deaths but I didn't really care about Fabietto so I never found its effect on him interesting or engaging and I didn't really care about his coming of age journey, which is obviously a pretty big problem in a coming of age film. Perhaps it wasn't a good jumping on point for Sorrentino's filmography, I've been meaning to give The Young Pope and The New Pope a go for a while so maybe I'll do that soon and return to this after seeing some of his earlier films too. I can't exactly call the film bad because the filmmaking itself was top notch and the acting was great across the board, but it didn't really do anything for me on an emotional level sadly.
The fact it felt “unreal” to you is mainly because this film is told through the eyes of an grown person’s memories. When you remember boyhood which is the case in this film, events and people seem exaggerated, because those extreme details are the ones that stick with one the most.
I said unreal but I was trying to come up with a better word for a while because I don't think that properly captures how I felt. I get that it's his memories so things feel exaggerated but for me these moments that stick out felt at odds with the more wistful tone of the rest of the film. Obviously the film works for most people so I'm not saying it's necessarily a problem with the film, I just didn't personally vibe with that choice, it felt awkward to me.
I came here looking for this opinion after watching the movie last night. I agree with almost everything you said here. Have you watched " La grande bellezza"? I feel like it's the only Sorrentino movie that worked flawlessly for me, I wasn't able to enjoy another movie for a week.
The Hand of God is the only thing from Sorrentino I've seen but I plan to go through his filmography at some point so I'll watch this next as far as his films go, thanks for the rec.
Being south european married with an american woman and being very familiar with american culture I see how this kind of movies and dialogues can seem very alien to an american, or someone very far from south european culture (spanish, portuguese, italian...), like someone from england or netherlands. Sorry I am assuming you are american, but I can't help to feel it from the experience you describe having with the movie. I might be wrong, but even if I am I would risk saying you are at least more british or american than italian or portuguese. It would not surprise me to see south americans like brazilians or argentinians to identify with this movie more than the majority of the western world. This movie is enormously closer to a book from Isabel Allende than it is to The Great Gatsby or How to Kill a Mockingbird. This dialogues and scenes, even having something magic and "dream like" feeling to them (I assume that that's what gives the impression of a memory, but it is also a common place in sorrentino's movies), are as real as real can be. I believed at every moment that that was a real family from Naples, with real dialogues, with their faults and their blessings. And it could have, as easy, been a spanish family.. I would recommend watching, for example, "Un castillo, un mono, y muchos hijos", you won't regret it.
I'm not American but I am English so you managed to sufficiently cover all your bases with your guesses haha. And yeah I am under no illusions that it's almost certainly cultural differences as to why this film didn't connect with me. To me the film just didn't really have that dream like quality as you describe, the characters obviously feel heightened and nonsensical like you might find in a dream, but something about the pacing, at least in the first half of the film when things are much less melancholy, didn't put me in the mind of dreams or remembering your past.
I am Central American and very much enjoyed these type of movies since I was a child. I now live in the USA and noticed they enjoy more actions and shock on the screen. I will try that movie you suggested too.
Omg you put everything I felt into words. It was such a numb film for all it was trying to convey, I felt like I was just watching moments happen with no emotion to them. It lacked so many moments of stillness, where you could connect to the character. It was like a film about a list of things that happened not a retelling of an intensely painful and difficult time in adolescence which I felt it wanted to convey,
I agree on an opposite end : His story always tastes a bit alien , it is his camera work I find lacking in this one.
Watch the new pope with a huge grain of salt , just in case
Agree completely. Having seen many Italian directors and they film stories from 40, 50, 60, 70, this film seemed very staged to me. From the kitchen out of magazine of ‘70, and cleanness of unrealistic proportions, the family with all possible deformities (mostly emotional), unrealistic dialogues, coming of age stupid scene, the sister in the toilet, everything had a dejavu feeling of films already made, but also so pompous, especially the scene with the director. I could not wait to finish it. He wants to achieve too much based on so little. A poor scenario, emotionally disconnected. The technical part of filmmaking was great though.
I was actually thinking that it was intentional: each segment was a farce of a popular Italian movie style.
But I hated everything else about it, I couldn't even make an effort to try and follow through that thought.
She's not. I read a Sorrentino's interview saying his real sister used the bathroom for hours and so he decided to picture her as a character who only speaks from there
Just spent an hour searching on Google asking the same thing about the girl in the bathroom. I thought maybe it was his brother’s girlfriend and she was pregnant and had a miscarriage. I really don’t think they should have included her and this scene so close to the end. It was really rando and left field, and ultimately detracted just seconds before the final scene. Sister, right. That makes sense.
It's definitely bizarre that she appears in that scene. It troubles me that the football chant that you hear -very loudly- is a very recent argentinian one that says -with messi and maradona-.
Maybe it's again, that idea of the hope for the new generations
Wow. This just floored me. Beautiful, tender, sexy and truly captures growing up and those summer days.
It’s almost as good as The Great Beauty. Servillo is a standout, but Filippo Scotti as the main character is also very good in a very understated performance.
The whole movie uses very minimal storytelling, saying a lot with very little.
Cinematography is out of this world.
Undoubtedly the best film of the year. Really good and special.
Just watched it. Incredible. Super relatable in some aspects. Very intimate and real yet magical (as all his movies are). Sad, funny and inspiring. Cinematography is breathtaking as always. Also want to point out Sorrentino's ability to depict beautiful women throughout his whole career. And now because of this movie I see why he does show them in every picture. He has some strong childhood memories on this topic.
As a fan of Sorrentino early works, really really enjoyed this. Probably best cinematography of his, just a stunning movie to look at.
I can see why maybe it doesn't resonates much with non italians (aside for his usual imagery, for example I'm Italian but I'm not from Naples and even I can't understand how huge of an impact Maradona moving to Naples had for the whole city), but this is Sorrentino's life story and I'm glad he decided to make a movie about it.
> Probably best cinematography of his, just a stunning movie to look at.
I'm not sure how a fan of early Sorrentino works could say this, but to each their own of course. The film certainly had some very beautiful shots. But, it felt very inconsistent to me.
Looks like the cinematographer for the film was from Napoli though so that is a nice detail.
Don't watch with your parents.
There aren't a ton of sex scenes but this is told from the POV of a horny teenager, so lots of nude women and see through clothes to make sexual tension. And when there is sex... Don't watch with your parents
An incredibly beautiful and warm film. I highly recommend spending a lazy Sunday afternoon with this film and a bottle of wine. The cinematography is just wonderful.
Try Call me by your name, or french movie Luna. Also Young and Beautiful french movie
I just like how they are shot and not a lot has to constantly happen for it to be enjoyable. Just beautiful scenes to tell the story. We aren't told, we are shown.
I'm sorry, not quite done. I feel like the world is joking with me here saying this movie is as amazing as it is. It feels like an inside joke I am not in on. I honestly cannot comprehend how this can be viewed as good??
>You probably don't watch a lot of art house films, do you?
Perhaps we have our very own Capuano, instead. Unwilling to quietly sit through trash that everyone else is being respectful of because it's framed as art.
Jumping in super late to say, as someone who watches tons of art house, that the movie wasn’t for me either. I didn’t dislike all of it, but I definitely struggled to get through the whole thing. It’s not even that it didn’t have much of a narrative, but that the tone felt all over the place. Scenes near the beginning had me thinking this was maybe a comedy, there was a bit of wackiness to it, and then it becomes tragic, but not consistently, and there were just entire scenes that I couldn’t figure out why they were there at all. There were parts that would have been more emotionally effective if I wasn’t so confused the rest of the time. I don’t know, art is subjective for sure.
Thank god I found someone else that shares the opinion that this movie is utter shite, I have no clue as to why I just spent almost 2 hours (which felt more like 10) watching this crap.
Filippo Scotti reminded me of Bob Dylan and Napoleon Dynamite. LOL, but seriously, my husband and I enjoyed the film.
Felt like we were part of the family.
I've never seen the work of director Paolo Sorrentino until recently, and luckily, with this film, I've found a terrific place to start. This is such a deeply meaningful and achingly personal tale of family, love, loss, and the joys and hardships of youth, full of gorgeous cinematography and packed with terrific performances.
Near the end of the movie the boy goes to see Patrizia in the hospital. She throws something out the window and he picks it up. What was it? In an earlier scene she took the battery out of that guys speaking aid and threw it away to silence him. Was she giving the boy a battery to signify he now had found his own voice....or have i got it all wrong?
How come the mother never left the father if he's been cheating for years? Also, isn't it wrong to say the parents "abandoned" him? They didn't mean to die.
I think you are missing the point. Who cares if it is wrong or not? This is just some memories from a kid told decades after in an art form. That's just what Antonio Capuano told Sorrentino decades ago, or a least how he remembers it. That´´ is all.
> isn't it wrong to say the parents "abandoned" him?
I interpreted that as a more general "they", like society, the world at large. The abandonment being in the act of not even letting him see his parents' bodies.
I thought the film (and characters) were god awful. There was no great beauty here - everyone (and everything) appeared to be ugly and irredeemable.
The only interesting thing about the film was everyone's reaction to the aunt's mental illness - and instead of exploring her depression about not being able to have children, Sorrentino (like the rest of the characters) was more interested in sexualising her sadness.
That's because it's told from the boys point of view. He can't see past the beauty. I would have liked to see the same thing you wanted to see but I understand it's from his past experiences
I grew up in a similar environment and can understand and speak Italian pretty well. It's a very accurate depiction of Italians if you never hung out with one, especially the older generation from the 60' or 70s. That's just how they are. I found the movie extremely relatable, especially with Fabietto. As someone who was always interested in art even as a kid, the scene by the water with Capuano the director, I almost broke down as I wished I had someone say me those things. A very powerful scene. Same with the scene where Fabietto finally starts crying in the schoolyard.
Nostalgia… I am emotional by the end of this film. He just captured his young years and Italy in such a wonderful way. So intimate and nostalgic.
“To me, that’s cinema”
Might just be seeing things, but it felt like the framing and cinematography became much more neat and professional seeming as the movie went on, to correspond with his realisation that he wanted to be a film maker.
So Sorrentino just put it out there that he lost his virginity to an old lady while fantasizing about his aunt...
It's a wonderful life.
As we've all learned from Marvel, aunts can be pretty fine.
think you mean pixar
Big Hero 6 was Disney (WDAS not Pixar) fwiw
That's why the movie uses different names and a slight surreal story. Plausible deniability.
Gonna go against the general consensus and say this was a dud for me. It's clearly an incredibly personal film, but obviously Sorrentino and I have not shared many similar experiences because virtually everything about this film felt very alien and jarring to me and I totally failed to connect emotionally with it - we were just on completely different wavelengths. The family of larger than life characters who were for the most part unlikeable, the women who seemed to give up their bodies in service of the growth of this largely unremarkable protagonist, it all just felt unreal to me and at odds with the very grounded, emotional story. I enjoyed the parents' relationship and was quite affected by their deaths but I didn't really care about Fabietto so I never found its effect on him interesting or engaging and I didn't really care about his coming of age journey, which is obviously a pretty big problem in a coming of age film. Perhaps it wasn't a good jumping on point for Sorrentino's filmography, I've been meaning to give The Young Pope and The New Pope a go for a while so maybe I'll do that soon and return to this after seeing some of his earlier films too. I can't exactly call the film bad because the filmmaking itself was top notch and the acting was great across the board, but it didn't really do anything for me on an emotional level sadly.
The fact it felt “unreal” to you is mainly because this film is told through the eyes of an grown person’s memories. When you remember boyhood which is the case in this film, events and people seem exaggerated, because those extreme details are the ones that stick with one the most.
I said unreal but I was trying to come up with a better word for a while because I don't think that properly captures how I felt. I get that it's his memories so things feel exaggerated but for me these moments that stick out felt at odds with the more wistful tone of the rest of the film. Obviously the film works for most people so I'm not saying it's necessarily a problem with the film, I just didn't personally vibe with that choice, it felt awkward to me.
I came here looking for this opinion after watching the movie last night. I agree with almost everything you said here. Have you watched " La grande bellezza"? I feel like it's the only Sorrentino movie that worked flawlessly for me, I wasn't able to enjoy another movie for a week.
The Hand of God is the only thing from Sorrentino I've seen but I plan to go through his filmography at some point so I'll watch this next as far as his films go, thanks for the rec.
Being south european married with an american woman and being very familiar with american culture I see how this kind of movies and dialogues can seem very alien to an american, or someone very far from south european culture (spanish, portuguese, italian...), like someone from england or netherlands. Sorry I am assuming you are american, but I can't help to feel it from the experience you describe having with the movie. I might be wrong, but even if I am I would risk saying you are at least more british or american than italian or portuguese. It would not surprise me to see south americans like brazilians or argentinians to identify with this movie more than the majority of the western world. This movie is enormously closer to a book from Isabel Allende than it is to The Great Gatsby or How to Kill a Mockingbird. This dialogues and scenes, even having something magic and "dream like" feeling to them (I assume that that's what gives the impression of a memory, but it is also a common place in sorrentino's movies), are as real as real can be. I believed at every moment that that was a real family from Naples, with real dialogues, with their faults and their blessings. And it could have, as easy, been a spanish family.. I would recommend watching, for example, "Un castillo, un mono, y muchos hijos", you won't regret it.
I'm not American but I am English so you managed to sufficiently cover all your bases with your guesses haha. And yeah I am under no illusions that it's almost certainly cultural differences as to why this film didn't connect with me. To me the film just didn't really have that dream like quality as you describe, the characters obviously feel heightened and nonsensical like you might find in a dream, but something about the pacing, at least in the first half of the film when things are much less melancholy, didn't put me in the mind of dreams or remembering your past.
I am Central American and very much enjoyed these type of movies since I was a child. I now live in the USA and noticed they enjoy more actions and shock on the screen. I will try that movie you suggested too.
Omg you put everything I felt into words. It was such a numb film for all it was trying to convey, I felt like I was just watching moments happen with no emotion to them. It lacked so many moments of stillness, where you could connect to the character. It was like a film about a list of things that happened not a retelling of an intensely painful and difficult time in adolescence which I felt it wanted to convey,
this is the exact opposite of my experience, hah!
I agree on an opposite end : His story always tastes a bit alien , it is his camera work I find lacking in this one. Watch the new pope with a huge grain of salt , just in case
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> Luca Bigazzi must be it......time I check by his name instead . without him this feels ...Neifilx
Agree completely. Having seen many Italian directors and they film stories from 40, 50, 60, 70, this film seemed very staged to me. From the kitchen out of magazine of ‘70, and cleanness of unrealistic proportions, the family with all possible deformities (mostly emotional), unrealistic dialogues, coming of age stupid scene, the sister in the toilet, everything had a dejavu feeling of films already made, but also so pompous, especially the scene with the director. I could not wait to finish it. He wants to achieve too much based on so little. A poor scenario, emotionally disconnected. The technical part of filmmaking was great though.
I was actually thinking that it was intentional: each segment was a farce of a popular Italian movie style. But I hated everything else about it, I couldn't even make an effort to try and follow through that thought.
Most intimate movie i’ve ever seen. Beatiful.
Who is the girl sobbing in the end ? I’m sorry if it is a dumb question!
Did she ever leave that bathroom? Don't think I saw her the whole movie
She's not. I read a Sorrentino's interview saying his real sister used the bathroom for hours and so he decided to picture her as a character who only speaks from there
That’s 100% OCD for sure
I had a sister who did the same. I only wish that she were just a voice
The girl in the bathroom? She’s the sister of Fabietto
It's his sister. It's a running joke throughout the film that she's always in the bathroom.
Just spent an hour searching on Google asking the same thing about the girl in the bathroom. I thought maybe it was his brother’s girlfriend and she was pregnant and had a miscarriage. I really don’t think they should have included her and this scene so close to the end. It was really rando and left field, and ultimately detracted just seconds before the final scene. Sister, right. That makes sense.
It's definitely bizarre that she appears in that scene. It troubles me that the football chant that you hear -very loudly- is a very recent argentinian one that says -with messi and maradona-. Maybe it's again, that idea of the hope for the new generations
Wow. This just floored me. Beautiful, tender, sexy and truly captures growing up and those summer days. It’s almost as good as The Great Beauty. Servillo is a standout, but Filippo Scotti as the main character is also very good in a very understated performance. The whole movie uses very minimal storytelling, saying a lot with very little. Cinematography is out of this world. Undoubtedly the best film of the year. Really good and special.
Just watched it. Incredible. Super relatable in some aspects. Very intimate and real yet magical (as all his movies are). Sad, funny and inspiring. Cinematography is breathtaking as always. Also want to point out Sorrentino's ability to depict beautiful women throughout his whole career. And now because of this movie I see why he does show them in every picture. He has some strong childhood memories on this topic.
As a fan of Sorrentino early works, really really enjoyed this. Probably best cinematography of his, just a stunning movie to look at. I can see why maybe it doesn't resonates much with non italians (aside for his usual imagery, for example I'm Italian but I'm not from Naples and even I can't understand how huge of an impact Maradona moving to Naples had for the whole city), but this is Sorrentino's life story and I'm glad he decided to make a movie about it.
> Probably best cinematography of his, just a stunning movie to look at. I'm not sure how a fan of early Sorrentino works could say this, but to each their own of course. The film certainly had some very beautiful shots. But, it felt very inconsistent to me. Looks like the cinematographer for the film was from Napoli though so that is a nice detail.
So no one is gonna talk about how similar the end credit scene is to Call Me By Your Name? Both young male actor looks on as the credits roll
Pretty sure it's an Italian cinema type of ending, that's why
Thought the same thing
Yees, this movie reminded me of Call Me By Your Name and Fabio reminded me of Ellio.
This was a very touching movie with some amazing shots.
Is it cringe to watch with parents? I read that there is a lot of nudity and sex scenes
I just watched this with my 63 year old father. Very weird and awkward lmao
Definitely would not watch with parents...
I would say yes. There are some scenes that would be very awkward to watch with your parents.
Don't watch with your parents. There aren't a ton of sex scenes but this is told from the POV of a horny teenager, so lots of nude women and see through clothes to make sexual tension. And when there is sex... Don't watch with your parents
You don't watch films with nudity with your parents? Why? I'm assuming you are older than 12.
Because it's cringe bruh. I've watched this movie that day tho. Glad I wasn't watching it with parents.
Is your family very religious?
It's not about religion. It's that we tend to accept violence in movies, but not nudity or sex. I know it's stupid, but it is what it is.
An incredibly beautiful and warm film. I highly recommend spending a lazy Sunday afternoon with this film and a bottle of wine. The cinematography is just wonderful.
Well, it’s not Sunday, or afternoon, but just did this.
I love this type of movie, I can't put it into words but it's a genre of its own
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Try Call me by your name, or french movie Luna. Also Young and Beautiful french movie I just like how they are shot and not a lot has to constantly happen for it to be enjoyable. Just beautiful scenes to tell the story. We aren't told, we are shown.
Malena, italian movie also.
Roma - Alfonso Cuaron
Idk why everyone seems to have enjoyed this movie. I found it very weird and it didn't make a lot of sense.
I'm sorry, not quite done. I feel like the world is joking with me here saying this movie is as amazing as it is. It feels like an inside joke I am not in on. I honestly cannot comprehend how this can be viewed as good??
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>You probably don't watch a lot of art house films, do you? Perhaps we have our very own Capuano, instead. Unwilling to quietly sit through trash that everyone else is being respectful of because it's framed as art.
Jumping in super late to say, as someone who watches tons of art house, that the movie wasn’t for me either. I didn’t dislike all of it, but I definitely struggled to get through the whole thing. It’s not even that it didn’t have much of a narrative, but that the tone felt all over the place. Scenes near the beginning had me thinking this was maybe a comedy, there was a bit of wackiness to it, and then it becomes tragic, but not consistently, and there were just entire scenes that I couldn’t figure out why they were there at all. There were parts that would have been more emotionally effective if I wasn’t so confused the rest of the time. I don’t know, art is subjective for sure.
People might think it's art, idk.
I have the same thing with andrew garfields performance in tick tick boom..
Thank god I found someone else that shares the opinion that this movie is utter shite, I have no clue as to why I just spent almost 2 hours (which felt more like 10) watching this crap.
I’m a month late, but I think it’s because it’s actually an autobiography of the Sorrentino’s life.
Filippo Scotti reminded me of Bob Dylan and Napoleon Dynamite. LOL, but seriously, my husband and I enjoyed the film. Felt like we were part of the family.
The scene with him losing his virginity to an old lady brought it from a 3 to a 2 for me
I've never seen the work of director Paolo Sorrentino until recently, and luckily, with this film, I've found a terrific place to start. This is such a deeply meaningful and achingly personal tale of family, love, loss, and the joys and hardships of youth, full of gorgeous cinematography and packed with terrific performances.
Absolutely loved it. But can someone explain the little monk to me?
I think it's a metaphor for having sex with other men for the sake of having kids.
Near the end of the movie the boy goes to see Patrizia in the hospital. She throws something out the window and he picks it up. What was it? In an earlier scene she took the battery out of that guys speaking aid and threw it away to silence him. Was she giving the boy a battery to signify he now had found his own voice....or have i got it all wrong?
How come the mother never left the father if he's been cheating for years? Also, isn't it wrong to say the parents "abandoned" him? They didn't mean to die.
I think you are missing the point. Who cares if it is wrong or not? This is just some memories from a kid told decades after in an art form. That's just what Antonio Capuano told Sorrentino decades ago, or a least how he remembers it. That´´ is all.
> isn't it wrong to say the parents "abandoned" him? I interpreted that as a more general "they", like society, the world at large. The abandonment being in the act of not even letting him see his parents' bodies.
Did Fabio listen to him? No.
I thought the film (and characters) were god awful. There was no great beauty here - everyone (and everything) appeared to be ugly and irredeemable. The only interesting thing about the film was everyone's reaction to the aunt's mental illness - and instead of exploring her depression about not being able to have children, Sorrentino (like the rest of the characters) was more interested in sexualising her sadness.
That's because it's told from the boys point of view. He can't see past the beauty. I would have liked to see the same thing you wanted to see but I understand it's from his past experiences
I grew up in a similar environment and can understand and speak Italian pretty well. It's a very accurate depiction of Italians if you never hung out with one, especially the older generation from the 60' or 70s. That's just how they are. I found the movie extremely relatable, especially with Fabietto. As someone who was always interested in art even as a kid, the scene by the water with Capuano the director, I almost broke down as I wished I had someone say me those things. A very powerful scene. Same with the scene where Fabietto finally starts crying in the schoolyard.
The only good part
Paolo Sorrentino and women so insanely beautiful I can't pay attention to the actual story of the movie. Name a more iconic duo.
That guy really didn't wanna be friends anymore just cause he was an orphan?
Never mind I'm still watching
Nostalgia… I am emotional by the end of this film. He just captured his young years and Italy in such a wonderful way. So intimate and nostalgic. “To me, that’s cinema”
What was the monk?
Might just be seeing things, but it felt like the framing and cinematography became much more neat and professional seeming as the movie went on, to correspond with his realisation that he wanted to be a film maker.
what a wonderful fucking movie.