Francis Ford Coppola's Audacious Adaptation of Eliade's Novella
Produced, written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Youth Without Youth (2007) is an adventurous film exploring multiple dimensions of human consciousness. The movie interweaves a variety of mythical, mystical and paranormal themes. The narrative has an eccentric, nonlinear structure that contains ellipses and demands that the viewer tolerate ambiguity.
Coppola based his film on a 1976 novella by Romanian-born Mircea Eliade (1907-86), an influential historian of religions and Eastern philosophy who taught first at the Sorbonne and then at the University of Chicago. The story involves reincarnation, the fusion of dreams and reality, and the simultaneous coexistence of past, present and future in the human mind. But Coppola has taken Eliade's words on paper and transformed them into rich visual imagery and vibrant filmmaking that feels deeply personal. The musical score composed by Osvaldo Golijov evokes just the right emotions to accompany each sequence. The result is a movie that is warm, lyrical and romantic, but tinged with melancholy.
For the cinephile, contemplating Youth Without Youth brings to mind other challenging, unconventional films, such as Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad (1961), Ingmar Bergman's Persona (1966) and Krzysztof Kieslowski's The Double Life of Veronique (1991). Although Coppola's sensibility is different from that of these European filmmakers, the common thread here is that these are all cerebral movies that appeal to viewers with an interest in metaphysical issues.
The Protagonist Goes on a Strange Spiritual Journey
The central character in Youth Without Youth is the bookish, gentle Dominic Matei (Tim Roth). A lonely, elderly academic who lives in a provincial backwater, Dominic despairs that he will leave no legacy. But as he prepares to commit suicide on Easter Sunday, he is struck by lightning in a scene that suggests religious ecstasy. Eventually he recovers to find himself regenerated physically to the prime of his life and in possession of a prodigious intellect and unusually vivid memories of the past. This part of the story takes place in World War II-era Romania and Switzerland, and Dominic must evade the Nazis, who believe he may be the key that enables them to create a master race.
Another chunk of the story is set in the mid-1950s when Dominic meets and falls in love with the beautiful, sweet Veronica (Alexandra Maria Lara). She also gets struck by lightning, and in her case, she begins speaking Sanskrit and claims to be a 7th-century Buddhist nun. After a trip to India together, Dominic and Veronica relocate to Malta. She sometimes speaks in even more ancient tongues, such as Egyptian and Babylonian, and he applies his extraordinary capabilities to producing what is likely to become a landmark work on the origins of language.
Although the narrative is meandering and episodic, the film has a satisfying ending, presented as a coda that takes place in 1969. But this movie is not so much about plot or character as it is about ideas.
DVD Bonus Materials
The Youth Without Youth DVD contains an excellent feature-length audio commentary by writer-director Francis Ford Coppola, in which he supplies a wealth of interesting and illuminating information about his film. He explains that this is a low-budget movie made in Romania, except that the Malta sequences were shot mostly at Queen Mary's castle in Bulgaria. Coppola also clears up some of the murkier parts of the story, covers some of the historical background, and points out places where he took liberties in adapting Eliade's novella to the screen.
Also on the DVD are nearly an hour of additional extras. The most interesting of these is the 27-minute featurette on the film's musical score, where we learn that Coppola worked closely with composer Osvaldo Golijov, and the director was present at every recording session. One exotic instrument heard on the soundtrack is the cimbalom, which resembles a hammered dulcimer and is played by striking strings with sticks. This gives the movie's love theme a beautiful sound. Another unusual instrument is the kamancheh, which is played by drawing a horsehair bow across strings. It is capable of producing a melancholy sound like a cello, except more in the register of the violin.
Other featurettes include a so-so nine-minute making-of, where we hear from the principal actors and Matt Damon, who has a small role in the film. In addition, there's a run-of-the-mill 18-minute featurette on the makeup, which is mostly about making Tim Roth and Alexandra Maria Lara look older than they are.
DVD Details
Below I have listed all the details for the DVD containing Youth Without Youth.
Release Date: May 13, 2008
Feature Film Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for Some Sexuality, Nudity and a Brief Disturbing Image
Widescreen (2.35:1), Color
English 5.1 Dolby Digital
French 5.1 Dolby Digital
French Subtitles
Audio Commentary by Francis Ford Coppola
The Making of Youth Without Youth (9 min.)
The Music for Youth Without Youth (27 min.)
Youth Without Youth: The Make-Up (18 min.)
End Credits (4 min.)
