From Sasha’s review of Youth at Cannes in May:
Paolo Sorrentino just hit it out of the park here at Cannes, delivering what has to be the most compelling screening of everything I’ve seen here thus far with the possible exception of Carol. When it finally came to an end, the audience sat in stunned silence until at last the screen went totally dark… Both Caine and Keitel give career-best performances. One or the other is headed for the Best Actor race. Jane Fonda has a powerhouse few minutes on screen that could earn her an Oscar nomination as well, but with Fox Searchlight in the driver’s seat expect this film — catnip for Academy voters — to be represented in all of the major categories and perhaps to become a frontrunner to win.
This is a film of big ideas of the human experience, certainly among the most profound. Why are people so afraid of human touch? is one of the questions it examines. Is love meant to last? is another. It’s about show business, creativity, inspiration, but mostly about the eternal conflict between aging and youth. We have such power of attraction when we’re young but we often don’t learn how to properly wield that power till we’re old. The film is emphatic about its realization that we’re alive until we aren’t. It doesn’t matter whether that existence is important or insignificant, this universal truth remains.
From Paolo Sorrentino, the internationally renowned writer and director of Italy’s Oscar-winning foreign language film The Great Beauty, comes YOUTH – a poignant tale of how we each find our own passion in life. Starring Academy Award winner Michael Caine as Fred and Academy Award nominee Harvey Keitel as Mick, YOUTH explores the lifelong bond between two friends vacationing in a luxury Swiss Alps lodge as they ponder retirement. While Fred has no plans to resume his musical career despite the urging of his loving daughter Lena (Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz), Mick is intent on finishing the screenplay for what may be his last important film for his muse Brenda (Academy Award winner Jane Fonda). And where will inspiration lead their younger friend Jimmy (Paul Dano), an actor grasping to make sense of his next performance? Set against a sprawling landscape of unforgettable sights and intoxicating music, YOUTH asks if our most important and life-changing experiences can come at any time – even late – in life. YOUTH will open in theaters December 4, 2015
I’m so torn regarding Paolo Sorrentino. He tries for magical realism so often and fails, but occasionally his movies have a jolt of real feeling and impact that is hard to deny. I go back and forth on his work while watching each new film. Sometimes I’m completely captivated, other times I’m annoyed, the rest of the time I’m unmoved. I have a feeling I’ll always feel this way about his stuff. This trailer gives me no reason to think anything different. I can already tell there will be a few absolute powerhouse scenes that belong in a time capsule, mixed with a bunch of stuffy, artsy nonsense and random arbitrariness. I will say one thing regarding his last movie. I found myself thinking about La grande belleza quite a bit after first seeing Birdman. They were perfectly complimentary in that each one had what the other was lacking. Sorrentino’s film was a fail on the magical realism front, whereas Birdman’s main redeeming quality was its ability to achieve that style perfectly. Innaritu’s film was shallow and deeply bitter about humanity, whereas The Great Beauty was humanistic and deeply felt. TGB couldn’t sit still for 2 seconds and kept jumping from plot line to plot line, but Birdman honed in and focused on the one story. Birdman was a knockoff of other, better work that tried to act like it was something new and different, but TGB never pretended it was anything other than a slavish Fellini homage. I prefer the humanistic, self aware homage that rambles over the shallow style exercise that revels in its own self-imposed revolutionary genius.
Holy crap, what a lovely trailer.
Hope this plays at the Rio Film Fest next month.
While I get the anger of the limited release amongst commenters, try living in a third world country and then we’ll talk about long waits for films. Hell, I attended a “Snowpiercer” press screening in 2013; it finally opens here in Brazil tomorrow.
I saw this, it was the worst time I had in a movie theatre, going out I could not believe what this film made me think: I don’t want to go to the cinema anymore, never again in my life. It lasted 20 seconds but the feeling was awful.
This Sorrentino thing is just the most pretentious prostatic pile of stupid scenes I have ever seen.
Looking forward to this.
I actually love that actors like Caine and Keitel have been given a film like this, a film where they can showcase what kind of an actor they are and not just some butler or sidekick of a certain superhero. Because as much as women in Hollywood are struggling to be given a meaty material worth their talents, the same can be said for senior actors like Caine and Keitel. Unless you’re surname is Pacino or de Niro or Douglas. So I really don-think care if “Academy Award” is all over this trailer. The actors earned it and if that’s a way to have more people go to theaters to watch their performances, then why not?
Antoinette…strategery. I love you for that.
Also, pretty sure atm that we’ve all just watched the trailer for this year’s Best Picture winner. It’s so happening. Every time somebody else hails another film as the likely winner, my mind immediately turns back to Youth. It just has it all: elderly (key Academy demo), male (key Academy demo), misunderstood genius (key Academy demo, or so they seem to believe) protagonists in a coffee-table art movie about art and beauty and pseudophilosophy. It’s basically The Artist meets Birdman by way of The King’s Speech only with even more old people. And fyi I have nothing against old people. Just some old people. And some young people. And everybody else lbr…
It’s basically The Artist meets Birdman by way of The King’s Speech only with even more old people…
…but this time looks as if we’re getting actual substance beneath the facade.
That’s fantastic news for us. But I’m not sure how much we should focus on the substance when this gets served to the Academy; the same way it’s not a wise idea to talk too much about the broccoli when serving a broccoli cheese soup puree to spoiled finicky brats. If the past few years are any indication, it’s hard for a movie with too much substance to win Best Picture unless it’s pureed, soupy and cheesy enough.
See where it says “In Select Cities December 2015”? That means me and the rest of the normal Americans aren’t good enough for a film like this. So it can go F itself. lol I’m tired of busting my ass to see Oscar bait. It’s been around since Cannes? They could have made a bunch of copies by now and got it out to us unwashed before Christmastime. But they’re holding it back to be strategery.
Typical American, figuring that the borders of the world end at the opposite coasts of the United States. Y’all aren’t the only ones who have to wait a little longer for a lot of films. And anyway, if all films were released directly after their festival premieres, theatres would be oversaturated with movies through the middle months of the year and totally barren from about November to April.
I have to see it all by myself re for my pleasure and/or the awards season.
But at least this trailer interests me. I somewhat feel connected with its ambience and the beautiful cinematography. I’m quite curious to learn more about whether or not they’ve initially written a storyboard for the entire feature because it looks to me that way – very well planned with symbolic and great visuals.
I’m in.
I think Fox Searchlight has made it clear with this trailer that Caine is campaigned as lead and Keitel is supporting.
Also, so glad to finally see the Fonda look that everyone at Cannes was talking about! I screamed when she appeared.
I agree with you Antoinette! It pisses me off too!!
They’re exploiting that girl’s butt.
“This is a film of big ideas of the human experience, certainly among the most profound. Why are people so afraid of human touch? is one of the questions it examines. Is love meant to last? is another.”
Bruce Springsteen might have covered all that.
See where it says “In Select Cities December 2015”? That means me and the rest of the normal Americans aren’t good enough for a film like this. So it can go F itself. lol I’m tired of busting my ass to see Oscar bait. It’s been around since Cannes? They could have made a bunch of copies by now and got it out to us unwashed before Christmastime. But they’re holding it back to be strategery. Academy Award winner, Academy Award Winner, Academy Award winner, we all need more Academy awards!!! Jeebus. If they try any harder to advertise it into being an Academy Award winner, they’ll pop.
Sorry. I’m sick of this elitist shit. If a movie hasn’t been released to me and my kind by the end of the year, I’m going to ignore it right back. That goes for all of the year end movies. Hold me to that, in case I forget. lol
Looks great. I liked The Great Beauty, and this seems to tackle similar themes as well. Also nice to see Weisz back in movies.