Skip to main content

Echoes of Italian Cinema Past in the Work of Paolo Sorrentino

With so much buzz about Paolo Sorrentino’s premiere of “The Hand of God” (È stata la mano di Dio) at the upcoming Venice Film Festival and on Netflix, I’m sharing an opinion piece that I wrote last year about both of his HBO series, “The Young Pope” and “The New Pope.” The article was published in the January, 2021 issue of Fra Noi Magazine. 

Sorrentino’s acclaimed HBO series “The Young Pope” and “The New Pope” are visually stunning fantasies of the mysterious world behind the Vatican walls. It was announced last year that a third and final series will round out the trilogy.

This fascination surrounding the enigma of Catholicism has been present throughout the director’s career but came to a head in his 2013 Oscar winner, “La grande bellezza” (The Great Beauty). If there was a prelude to the HBO series, it would be that film.

 

From the opening hymns to the main character, Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo), curiously gazing into a parochial school, the lure of the Church is always present. “You can’t imagine how much one learns by living alongside a cluster of religious institutes,” he later notes. There is a curiosity about this gated life, not only about what goes on behind closed doors, but who the people are behind them. In those opening scenes, Jep watches a young nun as she picks oranges from a tree. And later, as if the image stayed with him, he watches children running though the grounds of the school in between the trees while a religious hymn plays in the background. He is profoundly inquisitive about what he is witnessing. Looking at that scene in retrospect, it is very telling of what was to come in terms of the series.

 

There have been comparisons to Federico Fellini and it's my feeling that Fellini has indeed been an influence in Sorrentino’s career. In Fellini's 1970 documentary, “The Clowns,” he addresses the allure of the circus and talks about where it began. He recalls a nun from his childhood who he claims stood about a foot tall, describing her as “always in a hurry, saying she had to do everything because the saints didn’t trust anyone else.” He went on to say that she divided her time between the convent and the madhouse. Fellini was also known for his use animals and the ocean as a backdrop, with key scenes in “La Dolce Vita,” “Satyricon,” “Amarcord” and “Giulietta of the Spirits.” Think about the giraffe in “The Great Beauty,” the kangaroo in “The Young Pope” and the ocean in the “The New Pope.” Each seemed to be a protagonist in its respective scene. This is very felliniesque.

 

“The Young Pope” begins with the promise of a new chapter in the Catholic Church as Pope Pius XIII aka Lenny Belardo (Jude Law), walks onto the world’s stage to greet the faithful under the tumultuous storm clouds of a downpour. He opens his arms, looks up to the sky and parts the clouds, giving way to the bright rays of sunshine and hope for the future. But then we realize it was just a dream. This surreal opening sets the tone for a series of flashbacks as Lenny has numerous recollections of his youth and the disconnect with his parents. He often questions his devout faith and develops intense feelings for Esther (Ludivine Sagnier), the wife of a Swiss guard. The emotional strain of these combined soul searches takes a toll on him and he collapses in the last episode. The exceptional international cast along with a few of Italy’s beloved contemporary actors, including Silvio Orlando as the devious Cardinal Angelo Voiello, earned the series two Emmy nominations, making it the first Italian series to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy.

 

Sorrentino doubled down on his visual shock factor and produced a much darker series in the second installment, titled, “The New Pope,” which received as much criticism for its lack of a moral base as it did praise for its artistry.

 

The series opens with Pope Pius XIII in a coma and the search for someone to replace him as pontiff. After the shady death of the first choice, the search ultimately leads to Pope John Paul III aka John Brannox (John Malkovich), an English aristocrat and closet addict who also has issues with his parents. With Cardinal Voiello retired but always involved, he stands by as Pope John Paul III eventually self-destructs, leaving the church while a recovered Pope Pius XIII meets a similar fate. Meanwhile, there is a lot of sex and misbehaving, which one can argue echoes certain films of Pier Paolo Pasolini, like the controversial 1975, “Salò, or The 120 Days of Sodom.” The strong concentration on this dark tone tends to take away from the intimacy of the characters that was established in the first installment.

 

“The Young Pope” and “The New Pope” are available through HBO’s streaming platforms. Fellini’s “The Clowns” is available on Mubi with an Amazon Prime membership. Sorrentino’s “The Great Beauty” is available on Amazon, iTunes and YouTube. We’ll keep you posted on the release date of the final series.



        

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Conversation with Actor Mirko Frezza of David di Donatello Winner "Il più grande sogno"

The 2017 David di Donatello award show, which took place on Monday, was an exciting event that celebrated many great contemporary talents of Italian cinema.  I was fortunate to have seen most of the nominees.  Among my personal favorites  is Michele Vannucci's  Il più grande sogno  simply because it is based on one of the most inspiring, beautiful stories I've ever  heard, and the person behind that story is as authentic and down-to-earth as they come. The film won the 3 Future Award, which is determined by the public. With Director Michele Vannucci and Actor Mirko Frezza I first saw  Il più grande sogno last September when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival. I didn't make it to Venice, but thanks to a great online platform called Festival Scope , which offers a handful of premieres to be screened on the web, I felt like I was there. The film itself blew me away, and then when I realized it was based on a true story, I knew t...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Timeless Talent of Stefania Sandrelli

On screen since the tender age of 14, she has captivated audiences for more than 50 years with a compelling combination of strength and vulnerability. She achieved stardom at just 14 years old playing the angelic cousin of a love-struck Marcello Mastroianni in Pietro Germi’s “Divorce Italian Style.” More than half a century later, she is still going strong and remains one of Italy’s most esteemed actors. Stefania Sandrelli was born on June 5, 1946, in Viareggio in the province of Lucca in northern Italy. As a child, she studied music and dance. Then in 1960, she won a beauty pageant and was featured on the cover of Le Ore magazine. Her purity captivated the country and shortly thereafter, movie offers began pouring in. Just one year later, she made her cinema debut in three feature films: Mario Sequi’s Gioventù di notte , Luciano Salce’s The Fascist, and Pietro Germi’s Divorce Italian Style . She instantly became a star and before long was a key figure in Italy’s legend...
Post a Comment
Read more

Film at Lincoln Center honors Monica Vitti with retrospective featuring restored classics

Photo Courtesy of Archivio Luce-Cinecitt à A retrospective dedicated to the films of Italian cinema icon Monica Vitti will be held from June 6 to June 19 at Lincoln Center in New York City.  The 14-film series, titled "Monica Vitti: La Modernista," is presented by Film at Lincoln Center and Cinecittà and marks the first North American retrospective celebrating Vitti's 35-year career. "We are pleased to partner with Cinecittà to celebrate one of Italy's most revered actresses," said Film at Lincoln Center Vice President of Programming Florence Almozini. "It is a privilege to present decades' worth of films from Monica Vitti's illustrious and prolific career, especially with many restored versions of her legendary works." Monica Vitti, a key figure in film history, began her career in the mid-1950s and quickly became a captivating presence on screen. Her collaboration with director Michelangelo Antonioni produced memorable films in the 196...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Sweetness and Genius of Giulietta Masina

Fellini and Masina on the set of "La Strada" As open-hearted and sunny as Federico Fellini was dark and complex, they were perfect counterpoints during a half-century of marriage and professional collaboration.  Nicknamed a  “female Chaplin” and described by Chaplin himself as  the actress who moved him most,  Giulietta Masina confronted the tragedy of her characters with an eternal innocence and enthusiasm that gave Italians hope in the most challenging of times.  Born in 1921 in San Giorgio di Piano, a commune north of Bologna, Masina was the oldest of four children born to a father who was a music professor and violinist and a mother who was a grade-school teacher. Her parents sent her as a child to live in Rome with her widowed aunt while she attended school there. As Masina took an early interest in gymnastics, her aunt saw in her a passion for performing and encouraged her to pursue acting. So after high school, Masina attended Rome’s La...
Post a Comment
Read more

Golden Age Masterpiece: Luchino Visconti’s 1957 “White Nights”

Photo Credit: Archivio Luce Cinecittà Luchino Visconti’s 1957 film, “White Nights” (“Le notti bianche”), offers a thoughtful and poignant exploration of themes such as loneliness, desire and emotional vulnerability. Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novella of the same name, it transports the tale from 19th-century St. Petersburg to a dreamy mid-20th-century Italian setting. While Visconti remains largely faithful to Dostoevsky’s narrative, his characteristic style infuses the film with emotional depth, striking visuals, and a focus on class and societal constraints.   The story follows a young man named Matteo, played by Marcello Mastroianni, who lives a solitary life in a small Italian town. One evening, he encounters a beautiful young woman named Natalia, portrayed by Austrian-Swiss actress Maria Schell, who is also feeling isolated. Although she is initially reluctant, Natalia eventually confides in Matteo about her love for a man who has promised to return and marry her, but he ha...
Post a Comment
Read more