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Parthenope

Parthenope

Movie · 2024 · 3 people

Paolo Sorrentino wrote, produced and directed Parthenope, a coming-of-age drama from 2024 that draws on Greek mythology and was made as an Italian-French co-production. Its premiere on 21 May 2024 came in the competition for the Palme d'Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival; in Turkey the film is known as Su Perisi Parthenope. Italian cinemas got it through PiperFilm on 24 October 2024, and Turkish ones on 27 December 2024. Reviews were mixed.

The title is the name of the siren said to have founded Naples, and the heroine is a woman who carries her city's name. Born in 1950, Parthenope steps at eighteen into a changing world, hungry to learn and experience. Her legendary beauty is both gift and curse: everyone loves her, but she cannot manage to love. Blaming herself for her brother's suicide, she spends years in guilt searching for the meaning of her life. Celeste Dalla Porta plays the young Parthenope, with Stefania Sandrelli in the role at a later age. Gary Oldman, Silvio Orlando, Luisa Ranieri, Peppe Lanzetta, Isabella Ferrari and Dario Aita are also in the cast.

Sorrentino brings his passion for Naples into every frame, and Pathé handled production. The film includes dialogue in Italian, a southern Italian dialect and English.

DirectorPaolo Sorrentino
Production companyPathé

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Cast

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Isabella Ferrari Isabella Ferrari Actor · 62 years old Stefania Sandrelli Stefania Sandrelli Actor · 80 years old Gary Oldman

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Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Sorrentino sticks to his familiar method here: moving the story forward through images and moods rather than plot. Tying decades of one woman's life to a single city turns the coming-of-age story into a series of portraits more than a classic arc of development. That comes at a price. The idea that beauty is both gift and curse sits at the centre of the film, yet the camera cannot stop gazing at that beauty in admiration, so at times it risks reproducing the very gaze it questions. In my view the mixed critical response grows out of exactly this tension. Still, splitting the young and the older Parthenope between two actresses is a bold choice that makes you consider what time takes from a heroine and what it leaves.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

Following a woman born in 1950, the film carries in its background a long transformation that begins in post-war Italy. What is most intriguing, though, is that the heroine shares her name with the city's founding myth: Parthenope's story can also be read as Naples looking at itself. A young woman hungry for knowledge and experience who is constantly defined by how others see her beauty raises questions about women's place in public life. For viewers drawn to stories where myth and everyday life intertwine, and to the identity of Mediterranean cities, it offers rich material to read.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

This is not a film for a family evening on the sofa. At its centre are a brother's suicide, guilt and love, and the storytelling is heavy and reflective. It is not suitable for children and may feel slow to teenagers. It is one for adults to watch attentively on a quiet evening. The dialogue mixes Italian, southern Italian dialect and English, so expect to follow subtitles.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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