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Partenope is a woman named after her city. Is she a mermaid or a myth? In Greek myth, Partenope is a mermaid who committed suicide after failing to charm Odysseus. Her body was washed up on the site where Castel dell’Ovo is now built, and for this she gave her name to the city that would later become Neapolis, Naples. In the film, Partenope is the embodiment of the city of Naples. Heat Written by Peter Gregson Performed by Peter Gregson, Warren Zielinski, Magdalena Filipczak, Laurie Anderson, Ashok Klouda. Enticing wrapping. Ribbons galore. Open it and there’s nothing inside. Except for a few tired old rags of Fellini memorabilia. In Amarcord, 8 e mezzo, La Dolce Vita, to name just three of his best, the maestro conjured up a structureless jumble of such images and turned them into a series of cinematic masterpieces, but he did so because his images were real to begin with – they were real images, real scenes, real events, imprinted on his brain through real processes of pain and sorrow and amusement and longing and joy and what have you: i.e. the whole gamut of human emotions. Sorrentino seems to think this is an easy trick that can be copied and get the same results. But that’s not how art works. There are no shortcuts. In future, I’ll take the advice of another contributor here and give this director a wide berth.