By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Starring: Harvey Keitel | Jane Fonda | Michael Caine | Paul Dano | Rachel Weisz | Robert Seethaler
Country: france, italy, switzerland, united_kingdom
Year: 2015
Running time: 118
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3312830/
Kyle says: “My notes on Paolo Sorrentino’s atrocious YOUTH include pages of terrible lines, and scenes so grandiose, stuffed with so much visual information and shots held to the point of masturbatory self-indulgence (the sort of garbage that has people who otherwise know nothing about cinema clucking over how every shot looks like a painting. Or a photograph on their iPhones.), emotions so contrived and false they elevate slasher movies to the level of Greek tragedy, and misogynistic clutter of overwrought and dishonest observations on aging and yes, you guessed it — youth — so mendacious, that YOUTH makes Sorrentino’s also atrocious THE GREAT BEAUTY, appear to be a model of taste, tact and decorum — even bearing the mark of Satan commonly referred to as the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (which could have gone to — read ’em and weep — THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN, THE HUNT, THE MISSING PICTURE or OMAR). But speaking of Satan, at least the screening afforded me the clarity to revise my previous notion of Hell, which as of today is an endlessly projected double feature of THE GREAT BEAUTY and YOUTH.
“Fading formerly famous composer Fred Ballinger (Michael Caine) declines an invitation from an emissary for Queen Elizabeth to conduct his Simple Song #3 at a royal function, because it is a favorite of Prince Phillip, whose musical taste rivals that of his enthusiasm for racist jokes, even if the emissary promises to secure the services of soprano soubrette Sumi Jo, which comes off like a bad musical joke, except you just know you are going to see and hear her at the climactic royal performance which he keeps refusing. This scene is witnessed by mournful old soul movie star Jimmy Tree, who bemoans the fact that he is remembered only for playing a robot called Mr. Q, the identity of which pop culture icon that is a reference to you can guess; he later is seen being made up for a film appearance as an aging Adolph Hitler. At a script meeting with a staff of writers, fading formerly famous film director Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel) says, ‘You’re wasting time talking philosophy and big ideas’, when they are obviously discussing trivia and trash, which is either a test of audience sophistication or an example of Sorrentino’s notion of irony, since there is no big idea within miles of this enterprise.
“Young people with braces on their teeth are contrasted with old people discussing difficulty of urinating, as wheelchairs collide in the hotel hallways. Ballinger is seen resting next to a field observing cows and listening to cowbells, as he starts to conduct an orchestral piece, while I had an anxiety attack that this was a reference to Gustav Mahler’s Symphony #4. Daughter Lena Ballinger (Rachel Weisz), who has just been dumped by her husband (son of Boyle) for a younger rock star who he says is great in bed (Paloma Faith), attacks her father because he only cared for ‘MUSIC! MUSIC! MUSIC!’ while a slowed-down finale from Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird drones away underneath. This scene goes on and on, not only because Ballinger was acquainted with Stravinsky, but also to make sure we understand that Lena is in emotional pain.
“I stopped counting the number of conversations between Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel about ease of pissing and girlfriends from decades ago, all of which are repeated presumably for details of characterization, or as yet another manifestation of directorial irony. In a particularly obnoxious moment, Caine uninvited opens the hotel door where a young boy is practicing the Simple Song #3 and playing it badly, giving the boy a simple pedagogical adjustment because, you see, he is left-handed and therefore ‘different’. The film comes accidentally and briefly to life in a couple of scenes with morbidly obese soccer immortal Diego Maradona juggling a tennis ball as he would have a soccer ball in his legendary youth.
“The movie that Boyle is trying to get into production requires the services of famous aging movie star Brenda Morel (Jane Fonda), whom we first see from the back fatuously condemning a piece of artwork with, ‘Human beings really know how to be pathetic when they try to, don’t they?’ In her scene with Boyle, telling him she is accepting a television series and turning down his movie, she explains something everybody seems to be clear about except him: ‘Television is the future. To tell you the truth, it’s also the present’. Boyle’s existential response to the killing off of his project is to note ‘Men, artists, animals, plants — We’re all just extras’. He then jumps off the balcony to his death, finally putting the audience out of his misery.
“Ballinger is given a clean bill of health by his doctor, with special mention of his prostate. His plaintive observation that ‘I’ve grown old without understanding how I got here’ is answered by his doctor with ‘Do you know what awaits you? Youth!’ The final scene is of course the royal performance of Ballinger’s ‘Simple Song #3’ with soprano Sumi Jo strangely reminiscent of a drag queen. The work is terrible, the performance execrably over the top, as the credits roll in blessed even divine relief. If ever there was cause for condemnation of the pall of profundity passing for art, it is this agonizing rubbish. Oh, and Ballinger’s daughter finds romantic relief in the arms of an ardent mountaineer.
“It remains to report that as a guest of a member of the Screen Actors Guild, I stayed for a panel discussion with Jane Fonda, Paul Dano, Rachel Weisz, Harvey Keitel, and Michael Caine. The martinet conducting the Q & A offered nothing of interest, the audience members mostly asked the usual questions. Keitel was oblique or incoherent or both, and Caine did his best to smile and amuse the audience. Dano was smart and thoughtful, and actually made a few interesting points about looking inward to find qualities that showed on the screen. Weisz interrupted or did not finish her thoughts, probably from nervousness, although as it was, she still appeared much more interesting than the character she was portraying. This left Jane Fonda to rule the roost, answering with intellectual precision a seemingly lunatic question about breathing, even referencing watching your breathing when you go out on a date, complimenting director Sorrentino for being ‘poetic and surreal’, and answering a question about industry employment enthusiastically with, ‘At my age, you’re happy to work!’ The younger actor on my left infuriatingly asked Dano and Weisz about handling being associated with iconic film performances, ignoring the fact that in Jane Fonda and Michael Caine, there were two of the most famous names in Hollywood history, both capable of addressing dozens of issues having to do with fame, both on screen and off. It was the perfect capper to an evening of stage and screen glamor. At least to members of an audience demanding virtually nothing of its movies, except glamor and fame. And of course youth. 2 cats
“Friday, November 20, 2015, Directors Guild of America Theater, New York”