When your family story is something like a Federico Fellini movie (think AMARCORD/’73; I VITELLONI/’53), you’d be crazy not to make something like a Federico Fellini movie out of it. Yet in filming his own alternately hilarious & tragic ‘80s coming-of-age story (his first Naples shoot in twenty years), writer/director Paolo Sorrentino proves his own man as much by what he avoids from his elder master as by what he keeps. And unlike late Fellini, never in thrall to his mannerisms, but servant & master as needed. Taming his lush manner, especially on domestic interiors, Sorrentino shows a side of Naples rarely seen by outsiders, the well-to-do, upper-middle class where alter-ego Fabietto (Filippo Scotti, exceptional) indulges in his two main obsessions, voluptuous Aunt Patrizia (unable to have children, her magnificent unused breasts have driven her crazy), and soccer great Diego Maradona, rumored to be coming to Naples. Over the course of his 17th year, Fabietto and siblings will all face life altering changes: will his older brother get that movie role; will Fabietto find friends outside the extended family circle & figure out what he wants to do after high school; will his sister ever come out of the apartment bathroom? The first half is broad and riotous, though never as broad and riotous as half the females in the family (Yikes!), while the more sobersided second half, filled with unexpected consequences, is unforgettably moving. Occasionally wise, too, on subjects ranging from death to friendship to deflowering. Immaculate filmmaking on this grand a scale pretty rare. Perfectly cast, too, with Sorrentino regular Toni Servillo, a perfect font of equivocal advise as the father, and Luisa Ranieri going full Anita Ekberg as Aunt Patrizia. (NOTE: A lot of sex & nudity for our Family Friendly Label, so be aware. It's certainly no Kiddie Pic.)
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: As mentioned, Fellini’s I VITELLONI or AMARCORD. OR: The film Sorrentino says gave him the key to dare something this personal, ROMA/’18. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2021/05/roma-2018.html
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