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Paolo Sorrentino’s cinematic excess

2019; Intellect; Volume: 7; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1386/jicms.7.3.425_1

2047-7376

Lydia Tuan,

Visual Culture and Art Theory

This article discusses Paolo Sorrentino’s cinematic style through an analysis of four representative films of his filmography: L’uomo in più (One Man Up) (2001), Il divo (2008), La grande bellezza (The Great Beauty) (2013) and The Young Pope (2016). Via analytic attention to the form of the shot, its aesthetic modalities and the effects of such presentation on-screen, I demonstrate how Sorrentino’s formal excess appears temporally and spatially. Temporal excess refers to extended manipulations of cinematic time, such as the use of slow motion, and modifications of diegetic time, such as flashbacks. Spatial excess refers to expansions of space, created by zooming in or out of spaces, and repetitions of spaces. Finally, I propose the subgenre of ‘excessive cinema’ to provide a set of terminologies relating to formal excess that well reflects the stylistic form and aesthetic of Sorrentino’s directorial style.