Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Two lifelong friends bond whilst 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, Mick is intent on finishing the screenplay for what may be his last important film for his muse Brenda. And where will inspiration lead their younger friend Jimmy, an actor grasping to make sense of his next performance?
Paolo Sorrentino's Youth is a visually sumptuous meditation on aging, creativity, and memory set in an immaculately photographed Swiss alpine resort. The cinematography by Luca Bigazzi is genuinely exceptional — languid, painterly compositions that linger on faces and landscapes with equal reverence, earning a strong 4. The acting is also a highlight: Michael Caine delivers one of his finest late-career performances, with Harvey Keitel and Rachel Weisz providing strong support. The plot, however, is more impressionistic than propulsive — a series of philosophical vignettes and surreal interludes that feel rich but somewhat meandering, landing at an above-average 3. Novelty is tricky: Sorrentino's voice is distinctly his own (absurdist, melancholic, visually rhapsodic), but Youth treads similar thematic territory to The Great Beauty, making it feel slightly like a revisitation rather than a fully fresh conception. The ending packs an emotional punch with Fred's unexpected return to conducting, though it arrives somewhat abruptly and its full weight depends on accumulated patience with the film's unhurried pace.