Review of Youth Without Youth (2007) by Rika O — 21 Aug 2009

I walk into films with an open mind, looking to understand something about human nature and how the world functions. I'm always looking for a director and/or writer's emotions and feeling about the state of the world or what they have learned about society or the human soul. But, the fact still remains that I am young in life still yet, and can't even fathom the questions I will be asking myself and answering later on in my life.

The fact of the matter is Youth Without Youth is personal to Coppolla as Akira Kurosawa's later films were personal to him. Copolla has said 'goodbye' to being a critical hit and has begun to seek the personal style of storytelling he originally seeked in the 70's, only this time with the creative freedom to do whatever he damn well pleases.

For the audience watching this, perhaps some of us haven't begun to ponder the same thing that Copolla is trying to portray through this narrative. We don't get it, because we aren't supposed to get it just yet. It could be a pretentious way of thinking, but Copolla, I don't think was seeking another Oscar win. he's been there and done that and is beginning to make personal films for his own sake. films that have been clouding his mind for awhile. He wants to end his legacy on a testament of his feelings on life and what he learned.

With all of that being said, I can't give this a fresh rating because I really did not know what was happening. Most of the movie felt like blatant symbolism as if Copolla was trying too hard to make this film re-watchable for the purposes of spotting out the many symbolic shots and moments in the film. The only thing is, the film moves so slow and is edited in a way in which by the end of the film, the audience doesn't WANT to re-watch the movie. The film, for the most part, takes itself too seriously to be enjoyable enough, or even tragic enough to make the audience feel like they could pop it in whenever they feel happy or whenever they feel sad.

I do, however, enjoy several of Copolla's nods to other genres. There is one particular scene where Copolla mimics a scene from the film "The Third Man" in a perfect style. I don't know how the scene is supposed to fit into the narrative structure of copolla's story, but I did enjoy that nod to such a classic film.

Overall, Copolla may enjoy this film alot and i'm glad he got itout of his system and out into the world. Maybe when I am older and wrinkly and have a few more years on me, I can watch this film and truly enjoy it alot more. But until then, i'll let this film sit back in the far reaches of my memory and stick to watching Rumble Fish, The Godfather, and The Conversation.

Here's hoping Tetro turns out better, in a critical sense.