Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino often makes beautiful movies that celebrate life in his home country; films such as II Divo, The Great Beauty, and The Hand of God. For his latest, Parthenope, Sorrentino draws from Greek myth for a love story that competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and will likely be another of his films to contend for the Best International Feature Academy Award.
In Greek mythology, Parthenope is one of the sirens who attempted to seduce Odysseus on his journey home to Ithaca following the Trojan War. When she failed to sway him, Parthenope threw herself into the sea and drowned, her body washing ashore in Naples.
Sorrentino once described the film as following a woman “who bears the name of her city but is neither siren nor myth”.
The film stars Celeste Dalla Porta as Parthenope, with Gary Oldman as writer John Cheever. Also in the cast are Stefania Sandrelli, Silvio Orlando, Luisa Ranieri, Peppe Lanzetta, and Isabella Ferrari.
SYNOPSIS: Parthenope, born in the sea of Naples in 1950, searches for happiness over the long summers of her youth, falling in love with her city and its many memorable characters. From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino comes a gorgeous and deeply romantic story of a lifetime.
A24 will release Parthenope in theaters on February 7th 2025.
