Parthenope

🧠 Brief Summary

The narrative of Parthenope begins in Naples where we follow the life of its heroine from her birth in 1950 to her later years. Like the siren of ancient folklore, Parthenope transforms to an exceptionally beautiful and intelligent anthropology student, captivating those around her. She is involved in a love triangle with her delicate brother Raimondo and her childhood friend Sandrino which reaches a tragic climax on a cliff in Capri in 1970. Thereafter, she encounters several writers, mafiosi, and scholars, engaging in morally delicate intimacy and ambition. By the year 2023, we meet her as a retired scholar grappling with the spirit of her city and her life—returning to Naples in quiet triumph and a smile.

🎭 Character Roles and Performances

Parthenope (Celeste Dalla Porta / Stefania Sandrelli)

Dalla Porta’s debut is magnetic; she captures youthful magnetism, inquisitive restlessness, and emotional opacity. In her older incarnation, Sandrelli brings graceful reminiscence and tonal depth, weaving together the tapestry of a lifetime’s love and longing.

Raimondo (Daniele Rienzo) & Sandrino (Dario Aita)

Their bond with Parthenope is marked by obsession, innocence, and betrayal with darker shades of love woven through, culminating in the tragic death of Raimondo.

Professor Devoto Marotta (Silvio Orlando)

As her mentor, he offers her intellectual esteem and paternal warmth which aids substantially in her academic and emotional development in Trento.

John Cheever (Gary Oldman)

A sorrowful American author who comes into contact with Parthenope for a brief moment, revealing to her the emotional toll that beauty and fame carry.

Flora Malva, Greta Cool, Cardinal Tesorone

These characters contribute further to the allegorical depth of the film; Flora’s masking of scars, Greta’s disillusioned critique and the cardinal’s seductive power ritual emphasize this film’s thematic collage.

🎥 Themes and Symbolism

The Weight of Beauty

Sorrentino probes deep into the duality of beauty, both as a gift and a trap. Indeed, the central message of the film, ‘beauty is inadequate’, resonates strongly, yet is delivered in an emotionally detached manner.

Memory & Loss

Grief-stricken alongside her unfulfilled romance, Parthenope is defined by bereavement and introspection as she grapples with the duality of her identity alongside the weight of her memories.

Naples as Character

While Naples is a city of vivid life, vibrant yet sorrowful, theatrical yet broken, it embodies a contradiction paralleling Parthenope’s own.

🎞️ Cinematic Style and Atmosphere

Paolo Sorrentino lavishly composes with Naples, framing it in over-the-top visual tableaux, while Daria D’Antonio’s camerawork captures it with near-commercial elegance.

The time-shifting structure (1950s → ’70s → ’80s → 2023) unfolds in picturesque vignettes steeped in warm nostalgia. Capri summers, academic offices, ritualistic Camorra ceremonies, intertwines episodically then cools into solemn reflection. This dreamy, melancholic tone is accentuated by the score and art direction.

⭐ Reception and Interpretation

Critical Response

Critics have mixed reviews. Some deem it a lingering mystery on youth and beauty that is captivating, or calling it visually stunning, yet narratively thin—a long advertisement for fashion with moments of narrative emptiness.

Festival & Awards

Alongside its premiere, the film was screened at Cannes in 2024, where it received a standing ovation for nearly ten minutes. It led nominations at the 70th David di Donatello with fifteen nods, winning several awards for best technical categories including best cinematography.

Audience Takeaways

Despite some audience members like Luciana Rabinovich remarking about Sorrentino’s self-referential tendencies in the emotional depth of the film, many others praised the captivating metaphorical visuals, enchanting Celeste Dalla Porta’s presence.

✅ Final Verdict

Describing the work as an elegy or visual poem, Luciano Floridi noted the mesmerizing qualities of Celeste Dalla Porta. Even if the pieces don’t fit for some viewers regarding the film’s emotional depth, Sorrentino’s artistry is on display. elegy of beauty, memory, Parthenope is a breathtaking visual poem—an. for viewers drawn to contemplative portraits drenched in atmosphere, the experience is rich sensorial. Those hoping for a solid narrative payoff may view it as stylistic excess lacking concrete structure.