Youth Without Youth (film)
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| Youth Without Youth | |
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Francis Ford Coppola |
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| Produced by | Francis Ford Coppola |
| Written by | Novella: Mircea Eliade Screenplay: Francis Ford Coppola |
| Starring | Tim Roth Bruno Ganz Alexandra Maria Lara André Hennicke |
| Music by | Osvaldo Golijov |
| Cinematography | Mihai Malaimare Jr. |
| Editing by | Walter Murch |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics American Zoetrope |
| Release date(s) | December 14, 2007 |
| Running time | 121 min. |
| Country |  |
| Language | English |
Youth Without Youth is a 2007 film by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novella of the same name by Romanian author Mircea Eliade. It is the first film that Coppola has directed since 1997's The Rainmaker. It was distributed through Sony Pictures Classics in the United States and Pathé in the UK and France. The film was shot with a Sony HDC-F900 in High Definition and edited on Final Cut Pro 5.[citation needed] The music was composed by Grammy award-winning argentinian classical composer Osvaldo Golijov. Originally the film was to be distributed by United Artists. Sony Pictures Classics distributed the film when it opened in limited release in the United States on December 14, 2007. In an interview, Coppola said that he made the film as a meditation on time and on consciousness, which he considers a "changing tapestry of illusion," but he admitted that the film may also be appreciated as a beautiful love story, or as a mystery. [4]
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[edit] Plot
This is the story of Dominic Mattae around World War II. He is a smart student who becomes a professor and then a 70 year old man. The movie opens with Dominic waking up and going to his favorite bar/lounge/ restaurant (Café Select) in his pajamas in the middle of winter. He is intercepted on the way to the cafe and reminded of Christmas eve and his under dressed condition. He returns grumbling about going to someplace where no one knows him. He has apparently lived a solitary existence because he has been preoccupied by his "work" (to find the origin of human language and how it evolved).
He goes to Budapest to die carrying with him an envelope filled with poison. As he is walking down a street he is struck by a bolt of lightning which gives him third degree burns. He is taken to a hospital where he heals into a young man with supernatural powers (which he discovers as his life progresses).
He is helped out of the hospital by the doctor who nurses him. He publishes about his remarkable recovery and it arouses the interests of the Nazis. They send over a female spy who seduces him and talks with him in various languages. Apparently Dominic has a talent for learning languages in his sleep. He also suffers from a split personality and converses with his split partner.
He is pursued by the Nazis who attempt to duplicate the lightning strike. Upon failing they attempt to perform experiments upon him. He ends up running away with the assistance of the professor and many anti-Nazi sympathizers.
He escapes to Switzerland where he has an encounter with the Nazi Dr. who was attempting to recreate him. He is warned by the Nazi spy who slept with him who sacrifices herself for Dominic's sake and he ends up discovering a new power: forcing weapons to turn against their holders.
The war begins to go badly for the Nazis afterwards. They show him using a secret language. One day he is hiking when he meets the love of his life and reveals to her his real name. They are struck by thunderstorms and he rescues this lady who is similarly struck by lightning. She turns out to be possessed by the spirit of an ancient Hindu lady.
She speaks in Sanskrit and with the help of some scholars from Rome they try to find her home town in India by flying to it. Veronica (or Rupini) loses the spirit possessing her when she reaches India.
The two elope to a Maltese island where they are happy together until Dominic discovers that the lady is ageing rapidly because of his presence. He leaves because he loves her and receives a photograph of her with his twin children.
He returns to his college town where he taught as a professor and has an argument with his alter ego and shatters his shadow. When he does that he begins to age and then dies in the snow. (to be filled in with greater detail by some other kind soul).
[edit] Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics in USA. The New York Times gave it high praise, writing, "In this film Mr. Coppola blurs dreams and everyday life and suggests that through visual and narrative experimentation he has begun the search for new ways of making meaning, new holy places for him and for us"[1]. Variety, however, was "disappointed" by the "mishmash plotting" and "stilted script."[2] Rex Reed said that it was not a good film, writing, "You know a movie is doomed when the only star in it is Tim Roth. You know it's pretentious when the ads print the logo backward and upside down. Not one word of this bilge makes one lick of sense, and it is two hours and six minutes long. The only way to survive Youth Without Youth is dead drunk. The least Mr Coppola could do is provide free Cabernet Sauvignon from his own vineyards. One bottle going in, another bottle staggering out." [3] :
Following a wider release in Europe, many critics warmed up to it. Comparisons have been made with Fellini and David Lynch, specifically the latter's Mulholland Drive [5] and Inland Empire.[citation needed] The film was nominated for Best Cinematography at the 2008 Independent Spirit Awards.
[edit] Cast
- Tim Roth - Dominic Matei
- Alexandra Maria Lara - Veronica
- Bruno Ganz - Professor Stanciulescu
- André Hennicke - Josef Rudolf
- Marcel Iureş - Professor Giuseppe Tucci
- Adrian Pintea - Pandit
- Matt Damon - Ted Jones, a reporter of Life magazine (cameo)
- Alexandra Pirici - Woman in Room 6
[edit] references
[edit] External links
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