Beauty, were told, is in the eye of the beholder.
This is the category that the title character of Paolo SorrentinosParthenopefalls into.
She is introduced emerging from the sea as if she were the second coming of Venus.
Celeste Dalla Porta, Dario Aita and Daniele Rienzo in ‘Parthenope.‘Gianni Fiorito/A24
Her childhood chum Sandrino (Daniel Aita) has pined for her since he was a boy.
Legions of heads swivel in unison when she passes by.
And who also happens to be wait for it John Cheever himself.
as it gives you a break from the cliche of a stunning ingenue wreaking hormonal havoc everywhere she goes.
Only her thesis professor (The Young Popes Silvio Orlando) seems to encourage Parthenope regarding these academic pursuits.
He, alone, gets her.
The protagonists name and her obsession with anthropology likely arent coincidental.
Its a work of art dying of its own thirst.
All of her characters were pursued, lusted after and more or less left wanting.
Its really just an update of those Bardot arthouse skin flicks, Italian style.
But it can take solace in easily being an early contender for the horniest movie of the year.
