Yuri Gorokhovich

Yesterday we watched Parthenope by Paolo Sorrentino and I can't stop thinking about this film and its protagonist. From my perspective this is an amazing film that definitely deserves more than a few awards. Besides outstanding photography and cinematographic work this film presents a phenomenal view on an intellectual young woman who beats all traditions of the Napolitan society that can be also viewed as a general human society existing in other corners of the world. However, the beauty of nature in Naples makes it special and adds to the contrast with the ugliness of society. Parthenope is not just intelligent, she explores the world around her in a very intimate way, yet, she is uncertain of many things that surround her and she tries to understand and clarify this uncertainty. She is a true explorer and immersive scientist. Not surprising that Paolo Sorrentino made her anthropologist, a scientist who studies humans in all their spheres of life. Few times Parthenope asks her professor: 'What is anthropology?" and only at the end he responded that anthropology is an ability to see. This is what Parthenope is - anthropologist by nature who immerses herself in various situations in life that she sees and tries to navigate them to satisfy her curiosity. She dives into the wide range of human nature expressions, from total beauty to the ugliness, being able to manage them all, except probably the unexpected death of her brother. At least this is what I see. This is a very unusual and unorthodox representation of the beautiful woman in Italian cinema. In addition, many symbols and images in the film make it colorful and interesting to watch, like a rainbow, showing all spectrums of human feelings. All dialogues are very meaningful and yes, maybe we need to watch this film again to catch different nuances and eventually understand it better. Thanks Paolo for this artistic gift!