If Parthenope is remembered for one thing, it’ll be introducing audiences to Celeste Dalla Porta. While not her first time on screen, many will cite this as Dalla Porta’s breakthrough moment. Her character invites comparison to Sophia Loren. One can certainly see Dalla Porta having a career like Loren’s, and not merely because both are Italian bombshells. Like Loren, Dalla Porta overflows with charisma, making the camera fall in love with her. Watching Dalla Porta, I also couldn’t help but be reminded of a young Mia ‘Sloane Peterson’ Sara, who is also coincidentally of Italian descent. The most telling sign of Dalla Porta’s potential: she almost saves Parthenope.
While Parthenope is almost worth seeing for Dalla Porta’s star-making turn, the film itself lacks focus. Dalla Porta plays the titular Parthenope, a young woman brought up in Naples. Parthenope’s natural beauty is matched by Daria D’Antonio’s atmospheric cinematography, which washes over us with a calming sentiment. Just as much of the film takes place near water, the story drifts from one subplot to another. Parthenope possesses an episodic nature with our protagonist going along for the ride.
Parthenope is told that she’s lovely enough to be an actress. After seeing what fame has done to a fading former starlet (Isabella Ferrari), Parthenope is compelled to pursue an academic career, studying anthropology. So, the film is about valuing brain over beauty, right? Well, kind of, but Parthenope can’t commit to a central theme, much like how the main character can’t remain in one place long enough for us to let the film sink in. Side characters like Parthenope’s brother (Daniele Rienzo) and famed writer John Cheever (Gary Oldman) enter the equation, only to exit abruptly. By the time Parthenope considers entering an affair with an elderly bishop (Peppe Lanzetta), you start to wonder how we got to this point. The weirdest part has yet to come.
It’s always admirable to see a film that doesn’t abide by a traditional three-act structure. Sometimes, it’s fascinating just watching a person simply live their life. The problem is that the film doesn’t seem to know what it wants to say about Parthenope. The movie and its protagonist come off as aimless. To an extent, that’s fitting since the story is about a young woman finding herself. Even after more than two hours, though, the film fails to answer who Parthenope is and why we should care.
Writer/director Paolo Sorrentino is among the most acclaimed voices to come out of modern Italian cinema, helming Oscar nominees like The Hand of God and Oscar winners like The Great Beauty. Parthenope (both the film and character) may be beautiful to look at, but the internal journey isn’t as profound as Sorrentino thinks. This will nonetheless go down as a significant entry in his filmography, if only for Dalla Porta. She has all the makings of an international star who will surely continue to ascend in the years to come. Dalla Porta is what gets us through Parthenope, but if not for her and the stunning imagery, the experience comes off as hollow.