Youth

Paolo Sorrentino's previous film, The Great Beauty, won Italy its latest Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. His latest film is the English-language existential drama Youth. It's an odd character study that keeps the Fellini style alive into this century.

Fred Ballinger (Michael Caine) is a retired composer best known for his arias entitled the "Simple Songs". Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel) is a still-working director in pre-production for his last film, his "Testament." They're on Holiday in an Alpine resort. Their personal lives come to ahead.

An Emmisary for Queen Elizabeth wishes to recruit Fred for a Birthday Concert for Prince Phillip. But Fred won't do it. Mick's son Julian (Ed Stoppard) was married to Fred's daughter, Lena (Rachel Weisz). But then Julian left her for pop star Paloma Faith (as herself). Lena is already on strained terms with her father.  Meanwhile, actor Jimmy Tree (Paul Dano) joins Fred and Mick on their outings as he prepares for his newest role: Hitler.

Luca Bigazzi's cinematography covers both the surreal and mundane. There's a running gag about a Buddhist monk who supposedly can levitate which pays off. A few dream sequences. Long takes (such as the first shot). And of course, the Swiss Alps in all their glory. It certainly delivers in the visuals.

The problem is that I don't know what to make of it. The first dream sequence, where the resort seemingly floods, I didn't question. But when Lena's marital woes are visualized in a music video, I felt like I was watching another movie. A scene with Lena and her new rock-climber boyfriend was ruined by awful green screen. The breakdown of aged starlet Brenda Morrel (Jane Fonda) was a bit unintentionally funny (going berserk on an airplane). The tone shifts in ways I never thought surreal films could do. And they put me off.

But the music was good. David Lang's score was memorable, the highlight being the now Oscar-nominated Simple Song #3. We hear the opening violin notes a few times before soprano Sumi Jo sings it in the end. The orchestration of that song is powerful and its lyrics are ... well, simple. But it tells a lot about Fred's current life.

Youth is obviously not for those who want conventional narratives. I recognize its themes, including lost youth and loneliness, but I didn't connect. The slow pace and especially the tone shifts were its greatest weakness. I'm sure people of a certain age will connect with its themes. And I hope they'll love it more than me.