The Great Beauty

2013年 • 141 分鐘

關於這部電影

Rome, in the splendour of summer. Tourists flock to the Janiculum Hill: a Japanese man collapses, felled by such beauty. Jep Gambardella -- a handsome man with irresistible charm, despite the first signs of ageing -- enjoys the city's social life to the full. He attends chic dinners and parties, where his sparkling wit and pleasant company are always welcome. A successful journalist and inveterate seducer, in his youth he wrote a novel which earned him a literary award and a reputation as a frustrated writer. He masks his disenchantment behind a cynical attitude, which makes him view the world with bitter lucidity. On the terrace of his Rome apartment which overlooks the Coliseum, he hosts parties where "the human apparatus" -- that was the title of his novel -- is stripped bare, and where the comedy of nothingness is played out. Weary of his lifestyle, Jep sometimes dreams of taking up his pen again, haunted by memories of a youthful love which he still hangs on to. But will he ever manage it? Can he overcome this profound disgust for himself and others, in a city whose dazzling beauty sometimes leads to paralysis?

評分和評論

I'm not a detractor of Sorrentino's filmography, even though, since his movie "this must be the place", I started to doubt about his stylistic and philosophical choices. Not because they are bad, but because the way he tries to condense it in his movies, everything becomes a cacophony of thoughts and sounds, token from someone else, rearranged, and made it his. Nothing bad about it, great artists steal, they do not copy. That is the problem with this movie. Thought it was great till half of it. Than when he tries to become "Felliniano" he loses it. Nothing to say about the visuals. Stunning! The character of Jep, is great, and ends the way he should. These are the things that saves the movie. It fails when he quotes a master like Fellini and doesn't use the same language he did use. Simpler is better. Might be true that this movie is something that only intellectuals will understand. Too bad I'm not one of them. Still. Must watch.

Just back from taking my son and nearly three year old grandson to visit St Peters. The end shot brought a gasp and tears to my eyes. I took the little fella in to the loo in Castel San Angelo (he was caught suddenly short and the guard let us through). And after taking care of that we sat on the steps looking up at the ancient ruin - both in wonder - and that, I now understand is the Great Beauty. Someone old and long on the road, someone just starting on the journey. Both finding awe and sharing it. This is, for me, a film beyond words.

I really enjoyed it and watched it many times, a story about an elderly man who discovers he wasn't absolutely right about what life is and how you should go through it.