From Maradona to Jude Law: sport in Paolo Sorrentino’s movies

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although sport is a popular theme among film directors, it is all too rarely studied by film studies researchers, and often considered in a thematized or anthological way. The scarcity of scientific studies is considerably more noticeable when sporting activity, considered as just one of the many decorative elements of the film, is not at the heart of the story. This is all the more surprising since, in my opinion, it can constitute an interesting read filter for interpreting certain narrative choices, and more especially in art-house films. This is the case, for instance, for the movies of Italian film director Paolo Sorrentino, in which the theme of sport, for want of being omnipresent, can easily be identified. While the theme of the body in Sorrentino’s work has been mentioned in certain academic studies, notably concerning sexuality, dance and even physical decline linked to ageing or illness, occurrences of sporting references have not been given any particular attention. Yet, they would tend to show that Sorrentino includes them for at least three main reasons: the first is societal (the influence of football in Italian society), the second narrative (the theatrical dimension of the athletic body) and finally nostalgic (conjuring up memories of adolescence).