We consider our Saturday sorties down to the cinema quite special, we pretty careful to choose a film that will fascinatingly engage us enough to emerge either energised or enlightened, but when a marvellous movie of majestic magnitude leaves us well & truly mesmerised, we simply cannot resist extolling its exceptional virtues, “Youth” being one such stunning screenplay.
Being the gregarious cinema goer we are and having been regular in this respect from a number of years now, we consider ourselves a reasonably good judge on what is great, what is good and which should be avoided at all costs, the latter category including those mundane & morose Marvel movies, while any action blockbuster is usually doomed to a desperate disappointment, pretty much ruining the sanctity of our Saturday screenplay splendour. But when we delve in between the headline happenings that always make the tedious trailers, every now & then we uncover a truly captivating choice, the last time we did, “Carol”, being the phenomenal film that literally took our breath away and was one we couldn’t wait to watch over & over again. And “Youth” is very much in that fantastic film field, a marvellous movie of magnificent magnitude that snares you hook, line & sinker from the start, its off the wall & sometimes strange storyline craftily clever, making the film goer thinker really think deep and hard, appreciating its exceeding excellence when others would find it simply weird. So perhaps it is no surprise that “Youth” has flown either far too under or over the mainstream movie magnate and has, as a consequence, be ominously overlooked not just on the cinema circuit, but by all the impending awards ceremonies.
So what makes “Youth” such a stand-out screenplay among a string of others released simultaneously supposedly stealing its thunder? Well where do we begin? the cast for a start, multi award winner tor Michael Caine giving it the gravitas for which others such as Harvey Keitel can feed. And boy do they, the plot of the film decidedly difficult to decipher but one that makes it both enticingly intriguing as well as endearing, the opening scene with lead actor Caine playing the role of retired composer & orchestral conductor Fred Ballinger seeing him turn down a request from Her Majesty the Queen’s emissary to conduct a concert in celebration of Prince Phillip’s birthday. Amidst the stunning setting of a Swiss mountain health spa & hotel retreat, the variety of odd-ball characters begin assembling & contributing to the intriguing, if a little left filed at times, storyline, Jimmy Tree once such oddity, Paul Dano (of “12 Years A Slave” & “Prisoners” fame) portraying this fabled film star of a character who is on a research mission to play Adolf Hitler in a movie, this playing out during the course of this at moments, madcap movie. Add to him, Roly Serrano who plays an obesely overweight Diego Maradonna, cameo appearances by Paloma Faith & Miss Universe, Madalina Ghenea, both playing themselves, a Buddhist monk, a fire eater and even a swing band, a comprehensive cast of well & truly out there cranky characters and you cannot help but get immersed, often wondering where the film would go next.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T7CM4di_0c[/youtube]
The plot and perhaps one you only realise after the film ends, despite taking you decidedly different directions at the drop of a hat, does however centre on its two main characters, Fred Ballinger who we have already mentioned and Hollywood film director Mick Boyle, brilliantly portrayed by Harvey Keitel, Boyle & Ballinger lifelong friends and, as it goes, family relations, as Fred’s daughter (played by Rachel Weiz) is married & during the film separated from Mick’s son Julian (Ed Stoppard), the plot chronicling Boyle’s trials & tribulations in finalising the script for his swansong Hollywood blockbuster, while flicking between his exchanges with Ballanger and Fred’s own journey of his autumn years enlightenment of healing in the health spa and in the superb Swiss scenery. With another prolific portrayal of fading yet full on actress Brenda Morel, whom Boyle is determined to land as the lead role in his screenplay and who is mentioned on many an occasion throughout “Youth” but only appears towards the end, you have to look more than twice to realise that under a mass of make-up and & a big blond wig, its Jane Fonda playing Brenda and brilliantly may we say. To say more of the plot would tell too much, but suffice to say, you never feel bored, one narcotic scene after the next leaving you utterly addicted & compelled right to the conclusion and beyond, other crackpot characters including Maradonna’s wife, the mountain climber and Boyle’s band of bawdy screenwriters, all contributing considerably, yet not overpowering the majesty of the main players in this phenomenal motion picture. Then there is the soundtrack, trailer tune “Ceiling Gazing” by Mark Kozelek who himself makes a cameo appearance in the film, is moving to the point of tears.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KCes2MGA5A[/youtube]
So you will probably have guessed by now, we are nothing short of bowled over by the brilliance as well as overt opulence of “Youth” which, by being released on the cinema circuit, has some tough competition in the form of “Spotlight”, “The Reverent” & “The Big Short” and, for these reasons among others, may have already flown too low under the radar of many. Indeed, with awards season well & truly motoring towards the BAFTA’s & then the OSCAR’s, we have little doubt that this fantastic film along with its lead & support actors will be lucky to get even a mention. But this does not make “Youth” a poorer picture as a result, rather a richer one as its incredible individuality along with that off the wall & odd-ball eccentricity elevates it onto a motion picture pedestal that, for us, make it THE film of 2016 so far, ranking it along with 2015 classics such as “A Most Violent Year”, “Love Is Strange” & “45 Years”, all which sparked similar enthralling emotions. Quite whether “Youth” will reach the dizzy heights of “Carol” in our brilliance books is yet to be believed or proved, the latter very much in those major award winning stakes, we reckon both Michael Cain & Harvey Keitel’s performances are simply sublime and given the twists & turns in the plot, is a film we will never tire of, rather like its formidable 2015 bedfellows, will watch over & over once we add the “Youth” DVD to our collection. (DISCO MATT)