'I have to believe in everything in order to make things up.'

Rating: 10/10 (29 May 2016)

Italian writer/director Paolo Sorrentino (Il Divo, The Great Beauty, This Must Be the Place, etc) is known for his wispy, experimental films in which he dissects the concepts of love, beauty, meaning, significance, art and the manner in which they interact and influence each other. One line (of many great lines) from the movie sums up the message of YOUTH: 'I want to tell about your desire, my desire. So pure, so impossible, so immoral. But it doesn't matter because that's what makes us alive.' Filmed in the grandeur of the Swiss Alps, the cinematography by Luca Bigazzi and especially the musical score by David Lang add to the mesmerizing theme of age – youth being attainable only to the dreamers and the young of heart.
A retired orchestra conductor/composer Fred Ballinger (Michael Caine) is on holiday with his daughter Lena (Rachael Weisz) and his film director best friend Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel) in the Alps when he receives a visit from an Emissary (Alex Macqueen) from Queen Elizabeth II who invites him to perform his 'Simple Songs' at the request of Queen Elizabeth II to perform for Prince Philip's birthday. Fred refuses – he is retired and there are personal reasons for not wanting the 'Simple Songs' performed (one of the many threads that weave the mystery of aging and memory). Mick, on the other hand, is busy writing his testament – his magnum opus of a film, aided by a strange claque of young writers: the film's production depends on Mick's old friend Brenda Morel (Jane Fonda) starring in the major role. It is the interaction of these two aging artists, observed closely by an actor Jimmy Tree (Paul Dano), and their dissolving into the beauty of the alps scenery that brings surprises an a satisfying conclusion to this daydream of a film
The acting is excellent, the pacing is slow (like aging) and the musical score is stunning. This is a film that appeals to the intellect as well as the eye and is such a refreshing respite from the clangor of the current films before us today. Relax into this dream state and feel refreshed.