Parthenope: Knowledge and Beauty

The whole film we are kept at a distance from our protagonist Parthenope, who represents the beauty that Sorrentino always seems to be trying to capture in his films.

Parthenope follows the titular character in her university life in Naples, where she seems committed to not being committed to anything but her study of the world. She ignores the countless men who pine after her and, instead, is searching for why the world is the way that it is. In her journeys though, she begins to isolate the people who first loved her, her parents and, more importantly, her brother who becomes obsessed with her.

Understanding the structure of this film before watching it would be helpful. Each older man that Parthenope meets ends up representing different focuses of life in which she may find interest. John Cheever, an American played by Gary Oldman (An Oxymoron), is a novelist who represents art and storytelling. As an anthropologist, her professor represents her academic interest in the world. (Understanding humans is something she feels like she is desperately trying to attain.) She doesn’t know what anthropology is studying because like everyone she does not know what it means to be human. She briefly meets a rich man who probably would offer her riches more than she’d ever get through work but she quickly dismisses him. The last is a bishop, who represents religion, something that she seems to fairly quickly dismiss.

There is also an older woman, an actor who resents Naples and the scarce wealth she had in it while growing up. Acting becomes something Parthenope is also clearly not interested in, despite being told that, because of her beauty, she could be very successful and potentially famous. All of them wonder why she is not spending more time with people her own age. This is something that we as the audience question too. The simplest answer seems to be that she will gain wisdom or, at least, knowledge from the men who are experts in these fields, so that she may get a head start at understanding the world. But all of them do seem united in a simple truth that she is in a position and time she will never get back. As older people, they believe youth (and the beauty it comes with) is the peak of life.

All these men, like the audience, are trying to understand what Parthenope wants and why she does not seem to use her beauty to get it. We, maybe, can understand that Parthenope does not know what she wants, herself. Her actions in many scenes are often confusing and can seem hypocritical. Understanding that, her character was designed to be part myth and part siren but also, being neither, is hard to connect with for a film of this length. She is an idea in herself, which is likely why she and the title of the film bear the same name. Sorrentino did this with his most acclaimed film, The Great Beauty, but that film was rooted in the characters’ motivations and distinct personality. Here, a lot of the plot and ideas are more unnatural excuses to present conversations and images which introduce the beauty, knowledge and ideas about the human condition. The story very much lacks goals for its characters a lot of the time, making Parthenope the one who has to carry this 2 hour and 20 minute film.

The actors and art direction are all very well drawn out, making each person distinct and memorable. In particular, Celeste Dalla Porta as Parthenope plays the character very well and fits exactly what Sorrentino seems to be going for here. Gary Oldman’s role is also sensible and well-played, while fitting what the film wants. The costumes and locations are very striking, Saint Laurent as a costume consultant on the film, along with Carlo Poggioli, use a lot of memorable clothing in this film, ones that help serve to distinguish each character in Parthenope’s odyssey of youth.

What’s more, the film remains beautifully shot. There is one that almost gives the appearance of a split diopter shot but removes that affect by having direct light in two distinct points in the frame. The film is very nice to look at throughout and Sorrentino has a great visual eye along with his cinematographer Dari D’Antonio. Even so, the editing to tell this story certainly could have been more concise. The religious element, including stories with the bishop, did not seem key to the story overall. This is where the most confusing series of events happen. The length of these scenes also feel like they fail in some basic storytelling sense where the artistry in the images is held above everything else in the film. This time does give us the chance to see and revel in the beauty of Naples, a city which is supposed to be akin to Parthenope as a character, one she never leaves despite her curiosity and opportunities to leave.

There are a lot of questions that the film leaves you with, questions about the world (which is a very nice thing to leave with) but also lots of questions about the film itself. Sometimes, its ok to not be certain what specific plot points or character choices are, but this film is so filled with them it is hard to outwardly recommend knowing the feeling of confusion and unfulfillment that one has to wrestle with when trying to get the most out this film’s interesting visuals and ideas.

Parthenope is available in theatres on Friday, February 21st, 2025.