Review: The Hand Of God

Image courtesy of Netflix.

 Paolo Sorrentino's "The Hand of God" may draw some comparisons to the great Federico Fellini - whose work likely inspired some of Sorrentino's films, such as "The Great Beauty" - in the somewhat vulgar caricatures portrayed by the film's cast and the fixation of his lead character on what he perceives to be the mysteries of women. But this film - which includes a scene in which Fellini's presence becomes more literal than in Sorrentino's other movies - feels more personal and autobiographic that some of his previous work.

The film is set in the 1980s and follows the travails of Fabietto (Filippo Scotti), a virgin who must navigate life with a bawdy extended family that's often squabbling, taking part in provocative gestures or playing pranks on each other. The picture opens with a curious scene in which a favorite aunt - and a favorite due to her attractiveness and penchant for nude sunbathing - gets stopped on the street and taken by an old man to meet a child in a robe who's referred to as the Little Monk. It's a surreal sequence that nicely sets up the shifts in mood and tone throughout the film.

We then cut to Fabietto, his parents and several other relatives visiting this aunt, Patrizia (Luisa Ranieri), who's been once again beaten up by her husband. Fabietto is transfixed as his aunt's breast has slipped out of her dress as she talks to the family. We later learn of her troubled mental state - which leads to a stay in a psychiatric ward - but to Fabietto, she's an object of fixation.

In terms of a plot, you could argue that "The Hand of God" is somewhat aimless - and I don't mean this as a dig - but rather a series of scenes that involve Fabietto and his family - which include his brother, Marchino (Marlon Joubert), who like his brother is obsessed with Italian soccer, as well as his eccentric parents, Saverio and Maria (Toni Servillo and Teresa Saponangelo). Fabietto's father likes to crack jokes - often at the expense of his extended family - while Maria is a lover of pranks. One of those pranks involves her tricking a relative into thinking they've got the part they auditioned for in a Fellini movie.

But while the first half of "The Hand of God" is light in tone, raunchy and often funny, there's a shocking twist of events about halfway through that send the film into an entirely different direction. It's difficult to discuss the twist without giving it away, but suffice it to say that something awful involving Fabietto's family occurs, and the rest of the film involves the young man thinking about what he wants for his future - and a run-in with a cranky movie director pushes him in the direction of being a filmmaker.

Viewers might get a little whiplashed by the drastic change in tone from the film's first and second halves, but "The Hand of God" is mostly a winsome and ultimately moving coming-of-age tale. Some scenes border on the ridiculous - the voicebox of a relative's boyfriend and a sex scene between a young character and an old woman are among the many sequences that keep the absurdist surreal vibe alive throughout the film - but it's a picture with a genuine emotional pull. It may not be Sorrentino's best film, but I prefer it slightly over some of his more acclaimed films that, perhaps, took themselves a little more seriously. Regardless, it's a colorful and enjoyable watch.