The Hand of God: Fellini-esque and Probably Oscar-Bound, But...

By Thom Ernst

Rating: B-minus

I have a gripe about Paolo Sorrentino's The Hand of God. It might not be enough to throw me off the Sorrentino's grand intentions, nor does it push me from the film's dreamy place of nostalgia, but it's a gripe, nonetheless. 

And this gripe is the first thought that comes to mind when thinking of the film. 

But I need to take a few steps back. I have an indirect anecdote re: Sorrentino that colours my perception of his films even though it has nothing to do with Sorrentino or his movies.  

Fabietto (Filippo Scotti) is a young man whose awakened sexuality is focused on his seductive aunt.

I was doing a presentation on Fellini as part of an Italian Cinema series. In a follow-up Q&A, an audience member, goadingly asked what I thought of Sorrentino in the context of Fellini, as a device to show up what he perceived as my lack of insight. 

My answer was to remind him that I was only prepared to talk about Fellini, but still I dropped the titles of Sorrentino's recent works and gave praise to his The Great Beauty, which had not yet won its best foreign picture Oscar. My answer didn't satisfy the participant leaving an uncomfortable chasm between him and me long after he'd returned to his seat. 

I recognize now that the man's question was indeed relevant to a conversation about Fellini and perhaps not as intentionally malicious as I thought. Sorrentino is never far removed from whatever muse Fellini left behind. That muse is evident in The Hand of God. And one can make a strong case for The Hand of God as being Sorrentino's Amarcord—though Sorrentino’s film is not as accomplished as the maestro’s.

The Hand of God, we are told by the film's distributors and other such paid champions of the movie, is Sorrentino's most personal film to date, and it might well be. 

Set in Naples of the 1980s, The Hand of God follows Fabietto Schisa, a boy on the cusp of adulthood, played by Filippo Scotti, who shares a matinee resemblance to Timothee Chalamet. Fabietto is left to navigate his way in the world through the mixed-bag of characters that make up his family. 

PROUDLY SUPPORTS ORIGINAL-CIN

Fabietto's father (Toni Servillo) purports to be the head of the family, but concedes to the kindness and affections of his wife, Maria (Teresa Saponangelo), who happens to be a skilled juggler. 

Fabietto's brother, Franco (Massimiliano Gallo), is seemingly uninspired to participate in life beyond pursuing dreams to be an actor. There is Signora Gentile (Dora Romano), a wickedly evil matriarch who, when at family gatherings, maintains a safe distance like a chained beast wolfing down food and growling insults. And there is a host of Fabietto's peculiar aunts and uncles and neighbours, all of whom contribute to Fabietto's life experience.

But The Hand of God lacks the imagination and mysticism that elevated The Great Beauty from being just a navel-gazing narrative about film. And the movie's presumptions about sexuality and coming-of-age are far too male-centric to be comfortably amusing. Yes, it's directed by a man and told through the perspective of a young man's eyes; so, of course it's male-centric. But the male gaze here is prominent in scenes that don't even involve men.

And that brings me to my gripe:

The Hand of God suffers from what I call, The Summer of '42  Syndrome, films that promote the conceit that a young man's sexual awakening is best left in the more experienced hands of a much older woman. On some level, it's a situation that sounds ideal, in that maturity and experience can be a positive influence in waylaying the feverish and misguided conceptions of sexual expression. This is, of course, an equation that only works when the male is young and the woman is much older; the reverse would drain the charm out of the scenario.  

But there is more to my gripe than just Fabietto's fantastical seduction and the onus put on women to make up for a perceived lack of male control and sensitivity. (The Summer of '42  Syndrome should be equally offensive to men).  

Sorrentino's camera is quick to exploit the female form, particularly in Luisa Ranieris character of Fabietto's Aunt Patrizia.  It is one thing to see Patrizia as Fabietto does, but another issue entirely when there are no notable male characters in the scene—that lustful eye belongs only to the director.  

To be sure, there are wonderful moments to The Hand of God, and the occasional reflections over fate and our place in the world can be pensive even if not earth-shattering.  

The Hand of God is the second of Sorrentino's films to be submitted as the official entry for best foreign picture Oscar. Its chances are good, and not because it's a great film but because the movie—despite merely skirting along the edges of filmmaking—is a story about storytelling. The Academy tends to honour movies about movie making.  

Sure, The Hand of God is my pic as this year's Oscar win for Best Foreign Film but only when filling out an office pool Oscar ballot.  Otherwise, my heart just isn’t there.

The Hand of God is directed by Paolo Sorrentino and stars Fillipo Scotti, Toni Servillo, Teresa Saponangelo, Massimiliano Gallo, and Luisa Ranieri.  The Hand of God is in select theatres beginning December 3, 2021