Written by Andreas Babiolakis

During the awards season, I will be covering films that are a part of the discussion that have been out for a while.

It feels really good to see Paolo Sorrentino back in his prime form. I’ve always wanted to see much more from him after his magnum opus The Great Beauty (a film I’d most certainly call one of the best of the 2010's). After a few marks were missed with Youth and Loro, he feels genuinely back with the highly intriguing The Hand of God, especially because we are getting something a little more based on fates rather than perspectives alone. While something like The Great Beauty questions what is the point of even carrying on in life in a whole slew of ways, The Hand of God feels like the push to try to continue living, particularly in the face of puberty and young adolescence. It’s a bit of a change of pace for Sorrentino, and it’s his strongest release in a while. Part of this comes from the filmmaker's personal connection with the setting of Naples, and there seems to be at least a bit of autobiographical commentary here from Sorrentino, who yearns for a time when things were different (despite the many challenges he was still facing). In The Hand of God, we get close to experiencing how Sorrentino views his own youth in the form of Fabietto.

Fabietto is ensconced in watching Diego Maradona at the height of his soccer (or football, rather) career, and it’s as if he lives vicariously through his favourite sports star: his wins are breaths of fresh air for Fabietto. Much of the start of The Hand of God is attributed to getting to know Fabietto and his surroundings (his family, living quarters, and his ways of life), as if we are being detailed on the upcoming match and what to expect. Once we are settled in our seats, The Hand of God begins the game, and seeing each tragedy unfurl or threshold being crossed is like viewing an athlete trying to combat against a superior team as the underdog in hopes of clinching the upset. We know that perseverance is in Fabietto’s blood. It’s time for him to channel the determinations of his idol.

The Hand of God is shot beautifully with a sense of wandering souls caught in the empty spaces, but that’s nothing new with Sorrentino. I’m happy to report that this film is an exquisite one, and it matches just how great it looks (a first in a while for him). It is willing to go into whatever territories are necessary to really portray a youth experiencing his life ahead of him in the matter of two hours, and these include the depths of despair and the awkwardness of absurdity. In a sense, The Hand of God is made up of vignettes that make up who Fabietto is, but it also is so much more than that. It shifts at any given time just like a sporting match would. How does this star player realign himself at any given obstacle? At the end of the day, even The Hand of God comes to accept that this isn’t a scrimmage. Life keeps going until it just doesn’t anymore. We will keep having to make choices and experiencing hardships at any given step. It’s about making the joys and luck for ourselves that makes the entire trip worthwhile. This may be Sorrentino’s strongest depictions of the inevitabilities and aimlessness of life in years.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.