Review of Youth Without Youth (2007) by Jonathan C — 18 May 2008

There comes a time when a seasoned director has the ability to literally make any film they choose, and it's usually one that's closest to their heart. There is absolutely no denying that Francis Ford Coppola is a master storyteller, for each production he approaches, no matter how successful, is treated like an epic. What Coppola proves in "Youth Without Youth", however, is that not all of his ideas should be made into a film.

This movie comes from a collection of writings about a man, seventy and suicidal, who is struck by lightning and reverses in age thirty years. Being that Coppola himself is seventy, it seems completely understandable that a story like this could inspire him to make a production of it. This film attempts to be one of those pictures that is dissected and studied, and while it is largely incomprehensible on first viewing (like most of those films), it does not intrigue the audience to WANT to dig deeper.

I'm not even entirely convinced there IS a grand meaning to be found from this film. While, at face value, it seems unfair to make this comparison, both Cameron Crowe (with "Vanilla Sky") and Darren Aronofsky (with both "Pi" and "The Fountain") have made films that "require" a second or third viewing to fully grasp the point. It is crucial, and apparently tricky, to make a movie that intends to be complicated but is not so frustratingly awkward that the audience simply loses all sense of compassion. So, while the plot is not necessarily confusing, it simply seems to ramble inconclusively.

The romantic aspect of the plot is intriguing and somewhat convincing, but this particular notion is still weighed down by the incohesiveness of the story through which the romance is explained.

Why did Coppola wait 10 years to make this movie? While he was executively producing his daughter's three (wonderful) productions, perhaps he's been planning something grand. For 1973, "The Godfather" was a masterful achievement and, through the years and five Oscars later, Coppola still knows the art of his craftsmanship.

Here we are, in the 21st century, waiting, just waiting for another masterpiece from him, and, as he explores in his latest attempt, time is of the essence.