La grande bellezza (2013)'s comments

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mpouk

Brilliantly sumptuous style that perfectly captures a society trapped in a circle of perennial self-indulgence, which stifles any meaningful human value. A portrait of utter decadence without become itself decadent is not an easy coup and Sorrentino's film fully succeeds in it by subtly maintaining a notion of human loss . A modern classic with many memorable, superbly imagined and executed scenes.

10 years 7 months ago

Larkspire

Stunning story and cinematography. Lots of lush colours and a marvellous fluid camera. Great performances, too.

I understand the comparisons to La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2, but I don't think that saying that this is better or worse than Fellini's works is quite fair. The similarities are there, but The Great Beauty is its own thing.

10 years ago

Addicted2Cinema

Beautiful, stylish and lush cinematography with a very dreamlike narrative that guides you into a rich and poetic discourse about life, love and death. For some, however, it might come off as shallow, as the pretty surface to an empty shell, but I thought of it as both a gorgeous and thought-provoking film.

10 years 8 months ago

Siskoid

The Great Beauty (La grande bellazza in Italian) won an Oscar two years ago for best foreign film, but I didn't know that when I purchased it on the strength of Paolo Sorrentino's newest film, Youth. The two films share a theme, certainly, that of artists growing old and reexamining their lives, and certainly share a "Perfect Shot" aesthetic, as the camera discovers interesting spaces in both Ancient and Modern Rome. Toni Servillo stars as Jep, a writer whose life of parties and pretentious performance art he puts into question when he learns of the death of perhaps the only girl he ever truly loved. Jep's questioning of himself and his world is what keeps the film from becoming pretentious itself, though the second half of his journey is perhaps a bit surreal, not to say disjointed. But even when the story meanders, the frame is always filled and scored beautifully.

8 years 2 months ago

Nopros

This touched me in so many different ways (lol). With ease the best film of the decade so far.

9 years 8 months ago

boulderman

Reference for future me. I forgot to vote in IMDb and as I can't recall it 6/10

3 years 9 months ago

andype

Great movie, I like it very much. Yes, almost as goog as Fellini.

6 years 5 months ago

Miss Jitterbug

Bears a great resemblance to Michaelangelo Antonionni's La Notte and Fellini's La dolce Vita. If you are not a fan of the shooting style of these two I doubt you will truly enjoy it. The cinematography is sight for sore eyes for sure.

10 years 2 months ago

Lumen

First things first: what a pleasure for the eye! Beautiful city, shots, faces...
The acting also is brilliant.
Now more serious: it has a deap vision on the ordinary, or rather on the failure of being authentic. The desperate attempt to shine, the seeming of a not-so-makeable generation is perfectly captured.
Authenticity? Reconnaissance? Art? -ha- just hopeless, powerless and frustrated people!
Interesting is the game between script and direction and montage, Jep talks about hope and disappointment, and each time the film looks to kill itself with some trick, something ordinary or a bad line... disappointments... But the way the film climbs out of the pit each time is brilliant and adds to the depth and search for meaning. Life is a big task, it's not easy to be what you want, or even to want what you want. Drinking and partying and not-reflecting will not bring you anywhere.

Finally it's hilarous, in a painful way, like a Kundera book, or Houellebeck (though the film is more optimistic). Among others the botox scene with the tickets!

ps: they always call Tarantino a cinephile, full of references... but he could (or rather should) learn from this movie...

10 years 4 months ago

Communicants

It's more or less a modern La Dolce Vita that lacks the punch of Fellini's film. Certainly not a bad film, but not an instant classic either.

10 years 4 months ago

V012

A brilliant modern day Fellini painted golden

10 years 4 months ago

paranoica

contemporary italian film making it's hommage to past chef'd'oefres-s (fellini etc) but well constructed and tempoesque. to compare La GB to w.allen's Vicky Christina Barcelona as a film produced with intention to attract tourism to area, La GB wins this cup with big advantage, not only portraying the city and it's inhabitants with more style but also playing well to Rome's attractions (scene with nightly visit to palazzos).

10 years 4 months ago