Paolo Sorrentino’s Italian drama The Hand of God ended on an ambiguous note of Fabietto boarding a train to Rome. In his journey, the train halted on an unnamed station for a moment.
At that moment, he saw Naples famous little monk standing on the platform. He soon revealed his face as a young boy, smiling at Fabietto. Fabietto smiled back at him and plugged in his earphones, gazing outside the world from the window of the train.
In Neapolitan folklore, the ‘little monk’ is a mysterious figure who has magical powers to bless or curse people for their doings. In the film, a total of two times, the ‘little monk’ appeared on the screen.
Within the film, he grants characters a treasure and moment of levity through his interaction. In the beginning, a mysterious Neapolitan mafia-type character takes Fabietto’s Aunt Patrizia to him to get his blessing to bear a child.
And, in the end, where Fabietto was going to start a new life for himself. He was running away from all his family, friends, and known ones, and the little monk again reappeared on the screen.
At first, when we see him bless Patrizia, it is about fulfilling her sexual desires. In a way, Patrizia is depicted as a woman who is quite immature throughout the movie. She got naked in front of her family members, fought with her husband, and urged him to take her to the mental asylum; these all showed her immaturity.
On the contrary, in the end, when we saw Fabietto run away from his beloved city, which becomes tragic to him after the inciting incident of his parent’s death, the ‘little monk’ enters the screen. Fabietto was now completely on his own. He left all behind to start anew.
This shows maturity in his character. And by showing the little monk in the station, Sorrentino brought closure to the chapter of gaining maturity through life experiences.
In my opinion, the ‘little monk’ is an alter ego of Fabietto. By revealing his true identity, the director made a statement here. That is about a dilemma of moving on, looking to the future, or living with what is lost.
The young Fabietto (dressing as the little monk) smiled at the mature Fabietto as a gesture of his accomplishment of moving forward.
The Hand of God is one of the great coming-of-age films that resonates with me. It hits hard and gets personal for me. In the final scene, Sorrentino gives us solace in this ever-struggling world of cruel reality.
