Directed by: Paolo Sorrentino
Writer: Paolo Sorrentino
Starring: Michael Caine, Rachel Weisz, Harvey Keitel, Paul Dano
Runtime: 124 min
I have now watched YOUTH two times. The first time, all by my lonesome and the second with my mom. I really wanted her to see the film it so I promised to watch it with her. We’re cuties like that.
I was utterly captivated by the visuals and emotionally stirred with the music. I am listening to the soundtrack as I write. Throughout YOUTH’s two-hour runtime, each character that I encountered was emotional, beautiful and tragic. I can’t help but identify with those characteristics (especially the beautiful factor – wink, wink)….
YOUTH takes place in a rather majestic setting. Enter in on a luxurious spa in the Swiss Alps. If truth be told, at first, I was not entirely certain whether it was a rehab or a hotel as the people coming and going were mostly famous actors, writers, musicians, sports figures, etc… But in fact, it’s a rather stunning hotel, located in the greenest of fields and the bluest of skies.
Two of the guests we meet are Fred Ballinger (Michael Caine), a composer, and Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel), a movie director. Both are veterans in their respective fields and also happen to be life long friends. At this point in their junctures, the two of them have grown old, however, you soon come to understand that their history is quite colorful; much like the scenery surrounding the hotel. They are now coming to terms with their age. What they had, what they did; the music they composed; the movies they made is reality no more.
Youth evoked this sort of spiritual enlightenment inside me. A parallel ambiance could be compared to my mediation period in yoga. I am deep in thought and still in space and time. YOUTH is also like a meditation. It focuses on the sentiments of aging, friendship, love, loss and pain. This idea of growing up is represented with such melancholy and I cannot help but reflect on where I stand in my own life as well as the relationships I currently have.
I am 28 years old. I am young and have my entire life ahead of me, but right now, I feel paralyzed. I live in Chicago and work in film, but feel completely trapped. I also feel misunderstood. Sometimes I think I am way too unconventional for the people around me; even my close friends.
I have this desire to run away, go explore and take a risk. Something holds me back and to me it feels tragic. I say I am trapped because I am so bogged down in this very moment. It disables me to glimpse at even the faintest light at the end of the tunnel. Does anyone identify with this? Most days I breath through it and ride this unsteady wave. Other days I am flooded with anger and rage.
For this reason alone, the film is completely tangible to me. I have no choice but to believe that everything will be ok. I do not strive for perfection because I don’t believe that’s realistic. But I strive to feel content, strong and free. I need to let go.
Yoga Pose: Happy Baby Pose
When we control our minds and senses in meditation, focusing on internal reality and renouncing external claims, the potential manifests: A happy baby is born.