Sorrentino

Filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino and actor Toni Servillo on their portrait of Silvio Berlusconi, the controversial Italian businessman-turned-politician, in “Loro.”

The academic career she craves, however, doesn’t stop her from exploring what’s out there, and Sorrentino’s menu of experiences for her covers a lot of thematic ground: a mysterious encounter with a disfigured acting guru, a night picnic with a wealthy admirer who hovers in a helicopter, an affair with a folk hero who connects her to the city’s poor masses, a personal tragedy that reminds her of life’s fragility.

That’s also the problem with Sorrentino’s approach.

She meets Sorrentino’s demanding direction with a game nonchalance — so much staring at the lens!

Paolo Sorrentino, the Italian filmmaker of “The Great Beauty,” returns to Cannes with “Parthenhope,” a Naples-set drama co-starring Gary Oldman.