The Hand of God

The Hand of God

3/12/2021 2h 10m 7.5/10

Overview

In 1980s Naples, Italy, an awkward Italian teen struggling to find his place experiences heartbreak and liberation after he's inadvertently saved from a freak accident by football legend Diego Maradona.

Director

Paolo Sorrentino

Top Billed Cast

Luisa Ranieri

Luisa Ranieri

Patrizia

Filippo Scotti

Filippo Scotti

Fabietto Schisa

Massimiliano Gallo

Massimiliano Gallo

Franco

Toni Servillo

Toni Servillo

Saverio Schisa

Teresa Saponangelo

Teresa Saponangelo

Maria Schisa

Marlon Joubert

Marlon Joubert

Marchino Schisa

Reviews

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

3/28/2022

7/10

Told largely from the perspective of the young "Fabietto" (Filippo Scotti), this is a charming tale of this youth who lives with elder brother "Marchino" (Marlon Joubert) and his parents "Saverio" (Toni Servillo) and "Maria" (Teresa Saponangelo). Both teenagers are frequently tempted by their somewhat exhibitionist aunt "Patricia" (Luisa Ranieri) a temptation only matched by their (and the entire city of Naples') desire to see Diego Maradona come and play at Napoli. Director Paolo Sorrentino packs quite a lot into this story. Sex, fun, friendship, betrayal, tragedy, beautiful scenery and a sense of family that is usually quite difficult to encapsulate without becoming too sentimental. The young Scotti (who reminded me a lot of Timothée Chalamet) plays well as an archetypal boy - he likes football and girls, but has no idea about the latter; and the engaging character development from boy to man is told quite imaginatively, I felt. No, it doesn't need a big screen - indeed maybe that compromises some of the intimacy of the story, but if you want to see a well crafted, enjoyable to look at story then I'd recommend this.

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