Course:Youth (2015), Dir. Paolo Sorrentino
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| Advanced Writing of Poetry |
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Youth is a film written and directed Paolo Sorrentino, also known as the filmmaker of The Great Beauty and the Netflix film The Hand of God, this was my first introduction to the writer/director and accordingly starting my own little fan club of his work. What I love of the film is that of how it confronts one of the notions that plague most people’s existent the most: Aging. The choice of setting, an Alpine Swiss Spa for the extravagantly wealthy and absurdly famous, with visible but not directly identified familiar characters like the Dali Lama and Maradona. The film is centred around Fred Ballinger, a composer and conductor who despite his retirement is being hounded by the Queen’s emissary to conduct one of his “Simple Songs” for Prince Phillip’s birthday.
“Queen's Emissary: Why exactly do you find the monarchy endearing?
Fred Ballinger: Well, because it's so vulnerable. You eliminate one person. And all of a sudden. The whole world changes. Like in a marriage.”
Through the film you are introduced to characters of his life and fellow residents at the spa hotel. I have personally watched this film one too many times that I can quote several bits of it by heart and introduced it to several friends, quite persistently. There is something so charming and humorous yet surprisingly morbid which I think matches perfectly with the choice of topic and title. This grumpy aging artist who, quite unamused by the process of enduring life, yet somehow without any clear desire to end it, is at this spa for the same reason he does everything else now, because he is used to it.
The film inspired my first writing project “The Simple Poems”, which is based on the composer’s songs of the same name.
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