A mosaic of several intertwined stories questioning the meaning of life, love and hope, set during the last six days in the life of Eluana Englaro, a young woman who spent 17 years in a vegetative state.
Though the movie eschews facile sloganeering, few of its characters or narrative threads are able to develop beyond their function as metaphors.
– Ignatiy Vishnevetsky,
AV Club,
5 Jun 2014
fresh:
Unlike most movies that rely on TV-news reports to drive the story, Dormant Beauty is complex and humane, and never shrinks to mere spectacle.
– Mark Jenkins,
NPR,
5 Jun 2014
fresh:
If "Dormant Beauty" does not rank among Mr. Bellocchio's best movies, it nonetheless still occasionally shows him at his best.
– A.O. Scott,
New York Times,
5 Jun 2014
fresh:
The film pits their honest passion against the stylized desperation of the actress' religious theater and the decadent hollowness of Berlusconi's political theater.
– Michael Sragow,
Orange County Register,
12 Jun 2014
fresh:
It's well acted and gorgeously and tenebrously shot.