Plot
A retired orchestra conductor is on holiday with his daughter and his film director best friend in the Alps when he receives an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to perform for Prince Philip's birthday.
Release Year: 2015
Rating: 7.5/10 (13,475 voted)
Critic's Score: 71/100
Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Stars: Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz
Storyline
Fred and Mick, two old friends, are on vacation in an elegant hotel at the foot of the Alps. Fred, a composer and conductor, is now retired. Mick, a film director, is still working. They look with curiosity and tenderness on their children's confused lives, Mick's enthusiastic young writers, and the other hotel guests. While Mick scrambles to finish the screenplay for what he imagines will be his last important film, Fred has no intention of resuming his musical career. But someone wants at all costs to hear him conduct again.
Cast: Michael Caine -
Fred Ballinger
Harvey Keitel -
Mick Boyle
Laura De Marchi -
Escort's Mother
Rachel Weisz -
Lena Ballinger
Paul Dano -
Jimmy Tree
Mark Kozelek -
Himself
Adam Jackson-Smith -
Queen's Emissary Assistant #2
Robert Seethaler -
Luca Moroder
Alex Macqueen -
Queen's Emissary
Luna Zimic Mijovic -
Masseuse
Dorji Wangchuk -
Buddhist Monk
Chloe Pirrie -
Girl Screenwriter
Alex Beckett -
Bearded Screenwriter
Nate Dern -
Funny Screenwriter
Mark Gessner -
Shy Screenwriter
Filming Locations: Kandersteg, Kanton Bern, Switzerland
Box Office Details
Budget: €12,300,000
(estimated)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Madalina Ghenea, who is playing Miss Universe and the symbol of youth in the film was 26 at the time of filming. In real life she would've been the oldest Miss Universe ever (sharing the honour with 1997 American winner Brook Lee). See more »
Goofs:
When Luca and Lena meet, Lena's left hand jumps between shots multiple times. See more »
Quotes:
User Review
Author:
Rating: 8/10
Once again, Paolo Sorrentino proves to be a master of cinema and
doesn't disappoint. The story is set in an apparently isolated place: a
luxury hotel in the mountains of Switzerland inhabited mainly by
artists and people from the show business (curious the reference to
Maradona, thanked by Sorrentino during his Oscar acceptance speech).
Youth is a tender film in both the characters and the themes: growing
old and the fears related to it are common to all men. Fred (Michael
Caine) is an old man who still has a lot going on in his life: he has
to deal with friendship, love, family and his career. The only thing
that makes him different from the younger people surrounding him is
that he is aware of memory. It is through memory that he has lost and
that he tries to regain his identity. Everyone in the film is in search
for identity: the contrast between how people see them and what they
want to be seen as.
The screenplay is complex and intense and for this reason sometimes
hard to follow. I loved the irony Sorrentino always puts in his movies:
through surrealism he is capable of expressing humanity in a simple but
yet beautiful way. All the cast delivers great performances and
cinematography is absorbing as always. Sorrentino is a director of
places: no matter if it is the Eternal City of Rome or an hotel
immersed in nature - he is able to capture all the beauty of it.
What the film teaches us, in the end, is that we are what we do - so,
I'd add, it's better if we do what we are - but we are nothing without
love, which is the driving force of humanity.
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