Italian distributor Piper Film, Fremantle and Pathé have dropped the international trailer for Paolo Sorrentino’s “Parthenope” ahead of the widely sold film’s international rollout following its bow in May from the Cannes Film Festival.
Praised in his review by Variety critic Siddhant Adlakha as “An exquisite treatise on cinematic beauty,” “Parthenope” is a love letter to the director’s native Naples. But also, as Sorrentino has put it, a film about “missed youth” that comes as a follow-up to his autobiographical “The Hand of God.”
The film’s titular character is a young woman born in Sorrentino’s native Naples – Neapolitans in Italy are also known as “Parthenopeans” – played by newcomer Celeste Dalla Porta who “delivers a beguiling performance,” noted Adlakha, as “a woman of such stunning beauty that people stop and stare.”
“It’s a moving artistic quest, as a filmmaker explores, through the tale of one woman finding her inner life — both beyond her beauty, and through it — the reasons he wields his camera in the first place: in pursuit of transformative truths about the way we see the world, and ourselves, best unveiled through aesthetic discovery,” Adlakha wrote.
The “Parthenope” cast also comprises Gary Oldman, who plays American novelist John Cheever; Luisa Ranieri, who played the emotionally troubled Aunt Patrizia in “Hand of God”; Italian icon Stefania Sandrelli who was Bernardo Bertolucci’s muse; and Silvio Orlando, who played Cardinal Voiello in “The Young Pope,” among other top talents.
Piper film will launch “Parthenope” in Italy using a smart release strategy. It involves some midnight premieres in select cinemas between Sept. 19 and 25 that will stoke excitement and allow the film to qualify in the local selection process for Italy’s international Oscar candidate. A proper full release in Italian cinemas will then follow on Oct. 24.
In early May, ahead of its Cannes bow, “Parthenope” was rapidly sold by Pathé all around the world, including to A24 for North America, during a 48-hour bidding frenzy A24 now plans to release the film later this year, while Pathé has set Jan. 8 2025, as the French release date.
“’Partenope’ is now starting its long journey in cinemas all around the world,” Sorrentino said in a statement for Variety.
“A journey made up of impossible loves, and loves that were just missed opportunities. But it’s this very imperfection that makes life fascinating and youth unforgettable. And against this backdrop there is Naples, the great love that was instead fulfilled,” the Oscar-winning auteur added.
“Parthenope” is a Fremantle film co-produced by its The Apartment label with France’s Pathé, in association with Sorrentino’s Numero 10 shingle, PiperFilm and Saint Laurent from Anthony Vaccarello and Logical Content Ventures, with support from Canal+ and the participation of Cine+.
