The Hand of God              4 ½ stars

Academy Award winning Italian director Paolo Sorrentino creates a Fabelman-esque story in The Hand of God, a sort of coming of age story loosely based on his own upbringing in 1980’s Naples. If you have seen one of his previous movies, The Great Beauty, you know he has set some high standards. In The Hand of God, we follow 18-year-old Fabietto (Filippo Scotti) who lives with his mom and dad and spends his time going to large family gatherings, going with his brother Marchino to acting auditions and dreaming about sex and soccer (European football), though it’s hard to tell which interests him more. He also has an interest in the movies. The early scenes are amusing in this two hour and ten minute movie, such as when his aunt Patrizia takes the opportunity at a family outing to sunbath nude in the presence of the entire family. Other relatives create equally absurd situations. A central element of the film comes when real life Argentinian superstar Diego Maradona joins the Naples soccer team creating a sensation for young Fabietto and the whole city. It is when a great tragedy strikes that forces the young man toward making decisions about what he should do with his life and is steered toward filmmaking. The Hand of God is largely fictionalized, but it does mirror events from Sorrentino’s life including the life changing tragedy. (The meeting with film legend Frederico Fellini did not actually happen though.) It’s worth viewing provided you can commit for the full duration. The Hand of God was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.