Paolo Sorrentino, the director of the Oscar-best foreign language film "The Beautiful City", is keen to explore grand themes, the pictures are beautiful, and most importantly, he hits the lifeblood of the religion of this era.
Different from Bergman's "Heavenly Questions" in the 1960s, which used "The Virgin Fountain" to express his beliefs, Sorrentino discusses the "absence" of God in one's life. This young pope was an orphan, and he never saw them again after being abandoned by his parents. He believed in God, but he did not believe in God; after he was elected pope, believers went to the Vatican to pay homage to the spokesman of Christ in the world. But never showed up, questioned in the shadows that they had forgotten God, leaving a crowd of panicked Catholics.
He also issued an order to declare zero tolerance for homosexuality and abortion. This wrathful deed of God tests all Catholics who are not confident enough. The book of Hebrews in the Bible describes the growth of believers, from those who can only eat milk to those who eat solid food. But things are fickle, the Pope was forcibly weaned by his parents, and then he also forcibly weaned everyone who called him Father.
However, the protagonist does not stop searching for his parents and understands why. Finally, the Pope regained the love of the faithful and uttered the phrase "God Smiles" (God is not absent, God is just smiling) in his first public speech. Love is a cliché and a proverb. Love can cover many sins. The director shows many aspects of religion through this show, there are intrigues, slanderous lies, dark humor, surrealism, but at the end of the day, this is a story of the Pope growing up, seeking and finding.
PS: As An Liwen, I can’t spoil it, and to be honest, I don’t have so much time to analyze it. To share one by one, Sorrentino’s works are really a rich treasure, and I hope everyone can get something.
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