‘Are you aware of the disruption your beauty causes?’ Gary Oldman’s inebriated author asks 25-year-old Parthenope (charismatic newcomer Celeste Dalla Porta), who is already alive to her power. One of the great Italian directors of the modern age, Paolo Sorrentino, follows up the excellent, devastatingly autobiographical The Hand Of God with something more superficial as he presents the flipside to his masterpiece The Great Beauty, placing us in the shoes of the subject of numerous infatuations.

The film is set in Sorrentino’s native Naples, which has rarely looked more sumptuous, and begins with an overly indulgent, slight slog of a first act exploring the young Parthenope’s icky relationship with her brother Raimondo (Daniele Rienzo) that lacks the humour and weight of the director’s best work. Luckily, as it wears on there are more of the idiosyncratic interludes we’ve come to love, while things start to feel less sleazy when we witness the touching bond this anthropology student shares with her professor Marotta (Silvio Orlando), who seems indifferent to Parthenope’s beauty and admires and champions her intellect. There are also fun encounters with a thrillingly rude actress named Greta Cool (Luisa Ranieri) and a mysteriously masked acting coach, Flora Malva (Isabella Ferrari).

Despite her professed intelligence and the film’s absolute obsession with her, Parthenope feels a little thinly drawn, with Sorrentino objectifying as much as he reveres or illuminates her. It lacks some soul and this isn’t exactly Oldman’s finest hour, although Dalla Porta is a screen natural who basks in the relentless scrutiny, doing a superb job with what she has. There’s something a little tiring about how in thrall Parthenope is to youthful beauty, yet Sorrentino really understands cinema and his flair for audacious imagery and love of Fellini-like eccentricity ensures it is rarely without charm. 

Parthenope is in cinemas from Friday 2 May.