This is the new movie by Paolo Sorrentino; think of Il Divo (2008) and The Great Beauty / La grande bellezza (2013). The title is the name of one of the Greek sirens, one who tempts Odysseus in The Iliad. A legend has her drowning in the sea close to what is now Naples and which gave an early settlement its name. Sorrentino is from Naples; his last movie was The Hand of God / È stata la mano di Dio (2021), partly autobiographical and set in Naples: unseen by me as it is only available on Netflix.

The titular character (Celeste Dalla Porte) is born into the Di Sangro affluent family living in a distinctive villa set in the wealthy suburb of Posillipo, a rocky peninsula, in 1950. The family wealth is based on a shipping company owned by her wealthy godfather (Achille Lauro) who proposes her name. He points to an old headpiece of the siren and makes the point that it is another name for Naples.

The film cuts to 1968 when the eighteen year old Parthe spend most of her time with her older brother Raimondo (Daniele Rienzo) and the son of the family housekeeper Sandrino (Dario Aita). Both young men are obsessed by Parthe.

In 1970 Parthe attends anthropological courses at the University. The head of the department is Professor Devota Marotta (Silvio Orlando). Parthe is a star pupil and a mutual respect develops between her and the Professor. That summer Parthe with Raimondo and Sandrino spends on the Island of Capri. Parthe is courted by several men but spends her time mainly with her brother and his friend. Then a tragedy strikes which will affect her and the family for the rest of their lives.

We follow Parthenope through the years of 1972 and 1974. She proposes to Professor Marotta a thesis on suicide but he chooses a subject, miracles. For a time Parthenope toys with becoming an actor but a meeting with a Neapolitan film star Greta Cool (Luisa Ranieri) convinces her remain in academia. Her thesis receives top marks and she joins Professor Marotta as an assistant.

By 1982 he is grooming her as his successor; he also introduces her to his disabled son. She is commissioned to write an article on a Neapolitan ‘miracle’, the annual liquefaction of the San Gennaro. She attends the event and meets Cardinal Tesorone (Peppe Lanzetta), who controls the event and who gives her a secret tour of the cathedral. Then Parthenope applies for a teaching post at the University of Trento in the North of Italy. There is a long ellipsis to 2023, when Parthenope retires from the University and returns to Naples. We last see her as she walks along the waterfront passed by a bus of supporters celebrating a local football victory (football is central to The Hand of God).

Sorrentino described the film as being about a woman named Parthenope “who bears the name of her city but is neither siren”, like the mythical figure of the same name (who gave her name to the city Parthenope, the antique predecessor of modern-day Naples), “nor myth”. (Wikipedia quoting an interview in Variety).

Despite Sorrentino’s disclaimer I found it difficult not to see Parthenope, at least partly, as a siren. The opening sets up this aspect as well as the sense that she represents the city. Her birth takes place in a pool of sea water at the Di Sangro villa, referencing the waters where legend has it that the mythical character drowned. We move to 1968 and the young Parthe. Here there is an inserted sequence set in the city as beautiful and stylist young women saunter through the streets ogled by the watching or passing males. They saunter rather like models, accentuated by a slight slow motion effect. At the end we cut to a reverse shot of Parthe moving in similar fashion. It is all rather glossy but lacking substance. Something I felt about Parthe, about the film and consequently what seems to be the comment on Naples. The most emotional scenes are of the young Parthe, Raimondo and Sandrino, but these end following the Capri sequence. Over the years Parthe has a number of seemingly brief affairs. Some presumably involving coitus and in one instance an abortion. But there is a singular lack of emotion here. The strongest relationship is with Professor Marotta but this is an intellectual relationship. He seems to be a widower but I heard no mention of a wife, dead or alive. And the meeting with his son seems to relate to the discourse of the miraculous. I did find some scenes or dialogue humorous or witty but I was uncertain if these were all intended.

Sandrino and Raimondo

Beatrice Loayza in the New York Times commented on Sorrentino’s:

lack of interest in realism – or political correctness for that matter

Certainly some aspects of the plot are closer to the fantastic than the realistic. And his films are noted for the quality of style; something that is also felt about Italian culture. However, in a film like The Great Beauty, whilst much of the protagonist Jep’s activities are about surface style we do discover in the course of the film a time of real emotion from his past. This never really materialised in Parthenope; for much of the time the tragic idyll in the past seems peripheral.. The film’s style makes for pleasurable viewing. The cinematography by Daria D’Antonio is beautifully executed. The editing by Cristiano Travaglioli is finely done while the music by Lele Marchitelli is evocative and well judged in its placement. The costumes, set, props and locations are all exquisite. The cast are good but not fully served by the script. Thus Gary Oldman appears in a cameo as an alcoholic US writer on Capri; but it adds little to the narrative or our sense of Parthe.

Sorrentino is what would be termed an auteur. And, as with his earlier films, the thematics of the movie are interesting, especially when they cross over with a trope associated with the filming of Italy’s South. An important part of the narrative is the idea of a lost idyll of youth. This is a common trope in film dramas. It is an important plot point in The Great Beauty. And it also powers the narrative in the classic Nuovo Cinema Paradiso. At several points in the narrative of Parthenope we get flashbacks to the youthful relationship of Parthe with Raimondo and with Sandrino. The last occurs just before the conclusion and Parthe’s return to Naples, suggesting that she has come to terms with her loss. What is interesting here is that Parthe has left Napes for Trento and now returns. But we see hardly anything of this sojourn in the North. The ellipsis parallels that in Nuovo Cinema Paradiso. We only see Toto in the North, having left Sicily, at the opening and closing of the film. In The Great Beauty Jep’s flashback is on an island off the coast, well away from his regular habitat of Rome. The divide between the North and South in Italian cinema is a staple, emphasising how, following the Risorgimento, they have diverged and even now remain singularly different.

The film is worth watching for the imagery and sound. It was shot on digital codex with Arri cameras in colour and black and white with Dolby sound mix. Happily the DCP is in 4k, which does justice to the quality in 2.39:1. The movie has Italian, Neapolitan and English dialogue and here there are sub-titles in English.