Sadly Over-hyped

People are voting emotionally.

A lot of fun.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Youth is one of the movies that will visually manipulate you to know the story without even a written lyrics, I love the tableaus in the beginning of the film and how the story and character develop. Also, the story is well derive and will make you see how characters evolve from time to time.

The film centers around 80 something composer/conductor Fred Ballinger (Michael Caine). He is at an Alps resort spa with his daughter Lena (Rachel Weisz) and long time friend and director Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel). Fred is retired and has refused to conduct for the Queen. Mick is with a group of writers as they are attempting to come up with a script for "Life's Last Day" and spend their time attempting to compose final death bed endings for the film. There are a number of minor subplots and players at the resort so you can create whatever theme or metaphor you desire for the film.The film was very artsy and theme driven. It appeared to focus on dreams and desires which are best left to youth, but I am sure one could get the opposite meaning. The film has a lot of good lines that appear that they tie things together, but then fall short."I have to believe everything to make things up." "Human beings know how to be pathetic when they try." "Emotions are overrated" contradicted by "Emotions is all we have." "I know you can't levitate."Rachel Weisz has a soliloquy where she nails it, but I wasn't sure what she nailed. Paloma Faith plays herself as an oversexed pop star. Madalina Diana Ghenea gets naked, which seems to be an odd sell point for an artsy film, but then again so did Michael Caine, and now I am blind.One thing I can say for certain is this is not a formula film. It is a series of scenes, many of which are isolated with no real connection to the main plot.People come to the spa to find themselves, realize their desires, and maybe make their dreams come true...

As a younger man, I probably wouldn't have cared much for this movie, because as a younger man, I wasn't preoccupied with getting older, and the consequences of reaching the September of my life.However, as a musician, photographer, and a baby boomer, I absolutely loved it. I would have given it 10 stars except for a poorly written character trait implied in Michael Cain's "Fred Ballinger" to appeal to the gay community for God knows what reason. It doesn't fit into the character's personality or lifestyle at all, and so it made no sense and was purely gratuitous.Aside from that one issue, I found this movie to be a "masterpiece", combining sights, sounds and thoughts in a totally original fashion, and takes place in a setting I can't recall ever seeing in any other motion picture.The acting is flawless from all involved, as is the casting, sets, editing, and most of all: 'the music'. I have since purchased the blu-ray of this film, and have watched it more times than I'd care to admit, and I've never been able to control my emotions at the very end with the voice of an angel soprano singing her heart out to a song that not only should have been nominated for an Oscar (it was), but should have won it hands down. 'Simple Song #3' If you're an action addict, this film isn't for you. However, if like like beautiful scenery, music, and talent from all involved, you may like this film as much as I did: One of my top ten favorites.

The film "Youth" (La giovinezza) by the Italian director Paolo Sorrentino is a reflection of the deep crisis in Italian cinema. After the golden age of Italian cinema in the 1960s the crisis started and became inescapable.Director Sorrentino tells the story of two close friends vacationing in a sanatorium in the Swiss Alps. One is a composer played by Michael Caine another is a filmmaker played by Harvey Keitel. Michael Caine plays his role well as usual and is the only reason why the film is remotely watchable.Otherwise the film is dull, pretentious and lacks any new or interesting ideas. The cinematography was bland and unoriginal. The music was surprisingly awful considering this is a film about a famous and beloved composer.The product placement for Microsoft Kinect was shameless, annoying and resembled a parody. The film had a positive critical response, however it is not a masterpiece, just utterly forgettable.The film is just another imitation of Fellini in the same way as "The Great Beauty" (La grande bellezza) but "The Great Beauty" at least was not so flat out boring and monotonous.It is time for the directors to stop stealing from the great masters and to their find own unique style and to produce new ideas and the film jurors should not encourage plagiarism either."Youth" can only be recommended as a sleeping aid.See more reviews at: http://indie-cinema.com/