Sumith Prasad
Academy Award-winner Paolo Sorrentino’s new film reportedly began shooting on June 26, 2023. The film, titled ‘Parthenope,’ revolves around the titular character, whose “long life embodies the full repertoire of human existence: youth’s lightheartedness and its demise, classical beauty, and its inexorable permutations, pointless and impossible loves, stale flirtations and dizzying passion, night-time kisses on Capri, flashes of joy and persistent suffering, real and invented fathers, endings, and new beginnings.” Sorrentino is shooting the film in Naples, where he was born and brought up, and on the island of Capri, located in the Tyrrhenian Sea near Naples.
The title ‘Parthenope’ refers to a siren in Greek mythology who tried to entice the King of Ithaca Odysseus with her songs. She cast herself into the sea and drowned when she failed to conquer the heart of the mighty king. Her lifeless body ended up in Naples, which then started to be known as “Parthenopeans.” Considering Sorrentino’s personal attachment to the city, we can expect the film to be a love letter to Naples. The film is written by Sorrentino and Umberto Contarello, who also co-wrote the director’s ‘Loro,’ ‘The Great Beauty,’ ‘This Must Be The Place,’ ‘The Young Pope,’ ‘The New Pope,’ etc.
Sorrentino’s recent projects include Naples-set ‘The Hand of God,’ ‘Loro,’ HBO’s Jude Law-starrer ‘The Young Pope,’ and the latter’s sequel ‘The New Pope.’ The cast of the film includes ‘The Hand of God’ fame Luisa Ranieri, ‘The Young Pope’ fame Silvio Orlando, Stefania Sandrelli (‘Divorce Italian Style’), ‘The Great Beauty’ fame Isabella Ferrari, Peppe Lanzetta (‘Spectre’), Alfonso Santagata (‘Gomorrah’), Lorenzo Gleijeses, Silvia Degrandi, and Celeste Dalla Porta. Although a release date is yet to be set for the film, we can expect Sorrentino’s tenth feature to premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where the director is a regular.
Sorrentino seemingly had his international breakthrough with ‘The Consequences of Love,’ which competed at 2004 Cannes. He then won the Jury Prize at 2008 Cannes with ‘Il Divo’ and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film with ‘The Great Beauty.’ His ‘The Hand of God’ won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2021 Venice Film Festival. ‘This Must Be The Place,’ ‘The Great Beauty,’ and ‘Youth’ competed for Palme d’Or at Cannes as well.
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