A pose of profundity

Rating: 5/10 (17 February 2016)

This is a continental production, and maybe the best guide for prospective viewers is whether they usually enjoy continental films or not. If you find them often stupid and affected it's easy to have the same impression of this film. I knew from the synopsis that plot and action wouldn't be the strong point of the film, but I did think that it might have humour, wit and pathos. In fact it has little of any of these. The screenplay tries to be quirky and different and to engage the viewer by bringing in grotesque characters and nude flesh. It's just enough to maintain sufficient interest, but any viewing enjoyment is largely created by the photography of beautiful settings. The dialogue is stilted, particularly in the mouths of child actors - maybe it's all translated which would explain the lack of realism. Overall,there's nothing too rewarding about watching the idle and overprivileged not really enjoying themselves in expensive comfort. You might expect there to be some pathos when one of the protagonists meets a sad end but in fact it seems like another piece of selfishness. To judge from the title the film plumes itself on having some philosophical message. It's hard to be sure what the message is. Maybe it's that selfish people finally realize that they have empty lives, but I'm guessing here. I thinks it's more "let's make a movie which can pose as something deep and profound". The musical item which ends the story is nice - in fact if it had gone on for another 10 minutes I would have felt more charitable towards the film. You've really got something better to do with your time than watch "Youth".