When director Paolo Sorrentino launches hit series young pope The work debuted in 2016, and it took the Vatican a year to reluctantly give its blessing to his imaginative and occasionally blasphemous depiction of the pope. Not so with Sorrentino’s latest film Partenopewhich was opposed by the Italian Catholic Church very early on.
That appears to have fueled interest in the film, which has topped the Italian box office since its release in theaters last month.
Set in Sorrentino’s hometown of Naples, the film is a rich meditation on beauty, love and death, based on the Greek mythological siren Parthenope, who failed to seduce Odysseus with her song. Throwing himself into the sea. Parthenope is closely related to Naples, so the city is sometimes called “Partenope” and its people are called “Partenope” in Italian.
This movie is definitely not about the church, but there is a scene at the end of the movie that would make any Catholic choke up. It involves a cardinal, the charming protagonist Partenope, and the liquefaction of the blood of San Gennaro—a recurring miracle said to be sacred to many Neapolitans.
Prominent Italian Catholics condemned the sacrilegious sex scene as an insult not only to the faith but to Naples itself, with Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, calling the scene’s “sterile aesthetics” “in bad taste”.
Celeste Dalla Porta (left) and Stefania Sandrelli in “Partenope”.
Gianni Fiorito/Cannes Film Festival
In a summary of the negative reactions, Avenier said Sorrentino was obsessed with the Catholic Church young pope Has reached a new low Partenope.
“The impression one gives is that whether it’s a nun playing tennis or a cardinal smoking a cigar, they are images chosen for image’s sake,” Avnier concluded.
Monsignor Vincenzo De Gregorio, who oversees the chapel, said he had not seen the film in its entirety, but excerpts of scenes were enough.
DeGregorio admits his comments will only gain more publicity for the film Corriere della Sera He mainly objected to the film’s “superficial” treatment of one of Naples’ enduring mysteries: how the blood of San Gennaro liquefies or does not liquefy during certain three days each year.
According to legend, this so-called miracle recalls the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1631, when San Gennaro’s blood liquefied and the volcano’s magma stopped before entering the city. Today, San Gennaro is often used to protect Neapolitans, with three annual ceremonies attracting thousands of devotees.
“Of course, Sorrentino didn’t set out to make a documentary or an in-depth sociological, historical analysis of Naples, but just to analyze its dreamy side, because that’s basically it,” DeGregorio told tour guide.
Sorrentino won an Oscar for his Fellini-esque love letter to Rome, big beautyhe said that his ode to Naples must focus on the Partenope, the sea, and their complex and sometimes contradictory relationship with Naples itself.
“She is a free woman, very spontaneous, she doesn’t judge, just like the city doesn’t judge,” he said at a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival. Partenope debuted in May and received a standing ovation. “She’s a mirror to the city I grew up in.”
Others cheered Partenopethe Cannes jury awarded its cinematographer Daria D’Antonio the Technical Prize at the Film Festival. This week, Italian media reported that bags bearing the words “I love Sorrentino” and “I love Partenope,” as well as a new statue for the Christmas crèche, a Neapolitan craftsman famous for starring one of the characters in the film.
Sorrentino himself spotted admirers seeking selfies and autographs at a special screening of the film in Palermo, Sicily this week.
It’s the latest scene in Naples to attract film attention and is the setting for an HBO series my smart friend A quartet of adaptations of Elena Ferrante’s best-selling novels.
Sorrentino’s last feature film hand of god, The headquarters are also in Naples and feature Maradona, another sacred but secular icon of Neapolitans. Before that, he made a splash with the 10-episode series young popestarring Jude Law as an unlikely, controversial pope, followed by new popestarring John Markovich.
A year after the first episode of HBO and Sky aired in Italy in late 2016, Vatican News Roman Observatory Although the way it portrayed the Vatican was called “frivolous”, “mean” and “weird”, it was ultimately met with generally positive reviews.
Roman Observatory No comments yet Partenope.
The Vatican is a constant topic for directors, and there have been a number of pope-themed films in recent years, including Nanni Moretti’s we have the popeNetflix two popes and recently secret meeting Starring Ralph Fiennes.
