Abstract movie about life is wistful but never sentimental

Rating: 8/10 (12 January 2016)

"Youth" (2015 release from Italy; original title "La giovinezza"; 124 min.) brings the story of Fred Ballinger (played by Michael Caine), an 80-something retired classical musician and orchestra director. Ballinger is on extended holiday in the Swiss Alps, along with his friend of 60 years, movie director Mick Boyle (played by Harvey Keitel), and Fred's daughter Lena (played by Racheal Weisz). As the movie opens, Fred is in discussion with someone from Buckingham Palace informing him the Queen wants to honor and knight him, if only in return he'll conduct his "Simple Songs", which Fred resolutely refuses (we later learn why). Meanwhile, we learn that Fred's daughter Lena and Mick's son Julien are married but divorcing. At this point we're 15 min. into the movie, but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the latest film from Italian director Paolo Sorrentino, who a couple of years ago won the Best Foreign Language Movie Oscar for "The Great Beauty" (which in my book was overrated), and before that brought us that weird Sean Penn vehicle "This Must Be the Place", among others. Here, Sorrentino goes in a very different direction, brings us two old guys who reflect back on their lives, wondering what is left in store for them. There really is no substantive plot to speak of, just a collection of abstract, if visually gorgeous, tableaux of what is happening at the Swiss Alps spa-resort. The movie's pulse is of course Michael Caine's masterful performance as the retired orchestra conductor, whom we learn (among others from a raging monologue from his daughter Lena) has quite a troubled past as a husband and a father. There are many other noteworthy performances, including from Paul Dano, whom we saw earlier this year as Brian Wilson in "Love and Mercy", and here is plays the frustrated actor whom people only remember for one role (as the robot "Mr. Q"). But wait... there is more! Deep into the second half of the film, Jane Fonda makes a memorable entrée (as the old school actress Brenda Morel), and her 10 min. role is already garnering Best Supporting Actress Oscar buzz. Any discussion of "Youth" would be incomplete without mentioning the fabulous soundtrack, both the classical score (courtesy of David Lang), and the songs, the best ones being courtesy of Sun Kil Moon's Mark Kozelek. His track "Ceiling Gazing" (which also played prominently in the movie's trailer) is the emotional lynchpin of the movie: wistful, but not sentimental. (The soundtrack is available here on Amazon.) I recently caught "Youth" over the year-end holidays in Ft. Myers at what turned out to be its very last screening as the next day the movie was gone. The screening I saw this at was attended okay (mostly by seniors, I might add). This movie is slow-moving (in the best possible way), and as a result I can't see this reaching a large audience in the theater. Perhaps if Caine gets an Oscar nomination (and he certainly deserves one) it is possible that this movie finds a second breath in the theater, perhaps not. Regardless, I found it to be a fantastic movie, and would encourage you to check it out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray. "Youth" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!