Sorrentino’s ‘The Hand of God’ a tale of personal loss, hope

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

VENICE (AP) — Italian director Paolo Sorrentino is turning the camera on his own personal tragedy. Sorrentino’s autobiographical “The Hand of God” premieres Thursday at the Venice Film Festival. It recounts how his otherwise normal childhood in 1980s Naples was upended by the sudden, accidental death of his parents and how a certain athlete had an unintentional role in saving his life. Sorrentino has spoken before about the trauma — both parents died of carbon monoxide poisoning at the family’s ski house when Sorrentino was 16. But “The Hand of God” is the film Sorrentino felt he always had to make, and finally found the right moment to after turning 50.