Starring: Toni Servillo, Sabrina Farilli, Carlo Verdone
Forty years ago, Jep Gambardella (Servillo) came to Rome
and wrote an acclaimed novel. Now at the age of sixty-five, Jep has yet to
produce a follow-up and spends most of his time socialising with many of Rome's
other high-flyers and providing interviews for a magazine, only for mortality
to cause him to look back on his life.
In several respects, The Great Beauty lives up to its
name. The film is visually sumptuous with some extraordinary work courtesy of
cinematographer Luca Bigazzi and the story calls for some astound visual
spectacle. The writing is also a great asset being very smart and swinging
between satirical comedy aimed at both the decadence of modern Rome (and
calling to mind its ancient forebear) as well as the often preening and
pretentious upper-class types that make up much of the film's major cast,
whilst also making some serious dramatic points with deep insight. The film's
only significant drawback is its length as the film meanders between Jep's
ponderings and the occasional effervescence does fade away at different times.
Still, it's hard to criticise a film that is so aesthetically pleasing and as
witty as The Great Beauty. It is indeed beautiful, but could've done with some
trimming.
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