‘The Hand of God’ (2021) Review: Coming-of-Age Tragedy Deals with Familial Loss
Set in 1980, Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God tells the story of Fabietto Schisa (Filippo Scotti), an introverted teenager who loves the football legend, Diego Maradona and is later struck by a family tragedy that shapes his future. Sorrentino creates a movie based on real events and an unconventional autobiography, making it his most personal film ever. The movie is a roller coaster of emotions: happiness, teenage awkwardness, sentimentality, marital flaws, all while dealing with unspeakable pain.
The movie revolves around the arrival of Maradona in Naples which fills the city with excitement, including Fabietto and his family. The Schisa’s pass time with their extended family as they have lunch together, watch football matches, prank each other and speculate about their relative’s new fiance. However, every family has their flaws. Fabietto’s parents Saverio and Maria (Toni Servillo and Teresa Saponangelo) exchange chirping whistles at each other; they still have their marital issues due to infidelity. One night, Saverio and Maria head over to their vacation home while Fabietto stays back to watch Maradona’s match, he loses his parents to carbon monoxide poisoning in their vacation home. Gripped by the loss, Fabietto and his older brother Marchino (Marlon Jourbett) are unsure of what to do with their lives. Fabietto is drawn towards filmmaking and must find his voice in the world, and he goes on a journey to do just that.
The Hand of God is a cinematic experience that shows the realities of home, whether they are good or bad. Sorrentino’s characters are based on his family, both of his parents who had died in the same manner as Fabietto’s parents. There is a sense of clarity and emotional pull that takes place in the movie, especially in the second half as the Schisa siblings deal with the loss in the rawest of forms. It’s an act of reclamation; Sorrentino combines all of these emotions and strings them together, the happy moments of the family poking fun at each other and the terrible moments where the family shares the tragedy, but also learns to deal with it in their way. There is humour and warmth, and the devastating tragedy that struck Sorrentino and his alter ego, Fabietto, that fills The Hand of God with comfort.
The running gags in The Hand of God, one with the boisterous get-togethers with Schisa and their extended families; one, in particular, is the back and forth interaction that happens in the scene where the family is having lunch at their seaside home. Maria hovers around the matriarch Signora Gentile (Dora Romano) pushing her to curse out loud, which sends the rest of the party in a fit of giggles. On the other end, the younger children are on the lookout with binoculars for their relative’s arrival while Saverio asks them if they have arrived in between conversations at the table. Everyone is lively, talking about Maradona, or Marchino’s career as an actor, and the comedy fills the air and punctuates the narrative ever so perfectly. Another gag that runs in the movie is Daniela (Rossella Di Lucca), Fabietto’s sister, who never leaves the bathroom. The Schisa family waits for her to emerge from the bathroom, but she only gets out when the entire family leaves right at the end of the movie.
Sorrentino shows the abundance of joy in family, and comedy, but pain dominates the second half of the movie. This shocking pain strikes deep into the viewer’s hearts as they have watched this eccentric family shout profanities and cheer together. The shift at the midpoint and experiencing the pain when Fabietto is saved from the tragedy, hence the movie’s title. The Hand of God shifts into a darker tone, one where Fabietto deals with the loss on his terms, guided by his mentor Antonio Capuano, the real-life Naepolitian director, played by Ciro Capano. Antonio has a no-nonsense attitude towards Fabietto’s passion for cinema and pleads him to find inspiration wherever he is, and if he has a story to tell he should tell it right now. Fabietto’s answer is sad, and one that involves the reality of Sorrentino, as he wasn’t allowed to see his parents when they died.
The Hand of God is a bewildering tale of a young teenager learning to deal with loss and attempting to escape it. The movie is guided by Fabietto’s happiness and fear, his sadness and the journeys that he carries into his next stage of life. The interactions between the characters are filled with immersive conversations and scenes that are hard to forget. The cast is exceptional, and the comedy gags between them are silly and still enjoyable to watch. There are more tragic moments outside of Fabietto’s life, such as his Aunt Patrizia (Luisa Ranieri) being accused of cheating on her jealous husband. Fabietto watches his aunt as she deals with her husband’s abuse and the grief of losing her baby by a miscarriage. Every action is guided through Fabietto’s eyes. The Hand of God is a love letter to Italy and for Sorrentino, it becomes a form of escapism and a humane portrayal of a grief-stricken teenager as he enters a new world.
The Hand of God will stream on Netflix on December 15.
Edited by: Raayaa Imthiyaz
