Youth
Short description
Youth is a comedy-drama about two men in their late seventies spending a spring holiday together at a hotel at the foot of the Swiss Alps. Fred Ballinger is a composer and conductor who long ago set music aside; Mick Boyle is a film director still working, struggling to finish the screenplay he believes will be his most important. Fred's daughter Lena, who also manages him, is with them, and their friend Jimmy Tree, an actor, is staying at the hotel too. When a representative of the British royal family arrives to ask Fred to conduct a concert in honour of Prince Philip's birthday, he refuses, though the request will not leave him alone.
Paolo Sorrentino directed and wrote the film, which followed The Great Beauty in his filmography and was released in 2015. The cast is led by Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel, with Rachel Weisz, Paul Dano and Jane Fonda. Sorrentino, whose earlier features include The Consequences of Love, Il Divo and This Must Be the Place, made the film in co-production between the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Switzerland.
Made for a modest budget, the film earned more than its cost at the worldwide box office. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.3 from 88,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.9 from 2,270 votes, while a film critics' rating stands at 7.1 from 213 reviews, closely matching how audiences received it.
What's left behind the scenes
- Madeline Genee, who played the role of Miss Universe, was 26 years old at the time of filming. In real life, she would have been one of the oldest winners of this competition (only Brook Mahealani Lee won the contest at the same age in 1997).
- Filming took place in the eastern part of the Swiss Alps. One shot features the railway station in Wiesen, located between St. Moritz and Davos.
- Michael Caine was given glasses with dark frames because they emphasized his gray hair.
- Paolo Sorrentino wrote the screenplay with Michael Caine in mind for the lead role.
- Michael Caine improvised the scene where his character tells his daughter to stop crying.
- When Lena is lying in the sun and talking to the gamekeeper, a change in the position of her hand in her hair can be noticed when the camera angle changes.
- Jane Fonda became interested in the role of Brenda, especially after her friend Al Pacino told her that the role was written "just for her." Another actress had been cast for the role, but she left the project, and Fonda instructed her agent to "reserve" the role for her.
- The film's cast includes three Academy Award winners (Michael Caine, Jane Fonda, and Rachel Weisz) and one nominee (Harvey Keitel).
- The scene with Madalina Ghenea in the bathtub topped WhatCulture.com's ranking of the 15 most paused moments in film.
- The film's final scene, in which Fred Belinger, played by Michael Caine, conducts, is very reminiscent of Federico Fellini's 'Orchestra Rehearsal' (1978). Sorrentino is a longtime Fellini admirer.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
