The Great Beauty is an utterly ravishing portrait of listless luxuriance, a fantasy of decadent wealth and beauty that evokes Fellini's La Dolce Vita by way of Baz Luhrmann.
Free account saves your watchlist and ratings.
The Great Beauty
Overview
Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.
Director and cast
- Paolo Sorrentino Director
- Toni Servillo as Jep Gambardella
- Carlo Verdone as Romano
- Sabrina Ferilli as Ramona
- Carlo Buccirosso as Lello Cava
- Iaia Forte as Trumeau
- Pamela Villoresi as Viola
- Galatea Ranzi as Stefania
- Franco Graziosi as Conte Colonna
- Sonia Gessner as Contessa Colonna
- Giorgio Pasotti as Stefano
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Celebrating Rome in all its decay, this florid comedy by Paolo Sorrentino (Il Divo, This Must Be the Place) opens with a hyperbolically gaudy party honoring a celebrity journalist on his 65th birthday.
A riotous film that finds depth, clarity and refreshment in even the shallowest of pools.
Throughout the film, Sorrentino delivers gorgeous images, crazy images, startling and sexy and serene images; it's a visual bath of sorts - the great beauty is everywhere, Jep (and we) just have to be open to it.
Though there's precious little drama, Sorrentino's skills as an image-maker are indisputable.
More films
Rome, Open City (1945)
Drama · War · Not Rated
During the Nazi occupation of 1944 Rome, Resistance leader Giorgio Manfredi is pursued by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a means of escape.
- Runtime
- 1h 44m
- Director
- Roberto Rossellini
- Cast
- Aldo Fabrizi, Marcello Pagliero, Harry Feist
Fatima (2020)
Drama · PG-13
In 1917, outside the parish of Fátima, Portugal, a 10-year-old girl and her two younger cousins witness multiple visitations of the Virgin Mary, who tells them that only prayer and suffering will bring an end to World War I. As secularist government officials and Church leaders try to force the children to recant their story, word of ...
- Runtime
- 1h 53m
- Cast
- Harvey Keitel, Sônia Braga, Goran Višnjić
The Two Popes (2019)
Drama · History · PG-13
Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict. Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church.
- Runtime
- 2h 5m
- Director
- Fernando Meirelles
- Cast
- Jonathan Pryce, Anthony Hopkins, Juan Minujín
Two Weeks in Another Town (1962)
Drama · APPROVED
After spending three years in an asylum, a washed-up actor views a minor assignment from his old director in Rome as a chance for personal and professional redemption.
- Runtime
- 1h 47m
- Director
- Vincente Minnelli
- Cast
- Kirk Douglas, Edward G. Robinson, Cyd Charisse
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Crime · Drama · Thriller · R
Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as...
- Runtime
- 1h 59m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn
Philadelphia (1993)
Drama · PG-13
Two lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops, their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.
- Runtime
- 2h 6m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Mystery · Thriller · R
Years after his squad was ambushed during the Gulf War, Major Ben Marco finds himself having terrible nightmares. He begins to doubt that his fellow squad-mate Sergeant Raymond Shaw, now a vice-presidential candidate, is the hero he remembers him being. As Marco's doubts deepen, Shaw's political power grows, and, when Marco finds a mys...
- Runtime
- 2h 10m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber
Stop Making Sense (1984)
Documentary · Music · PG
A concert film documenting Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, on tour for their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." The band takes the stage one by one and is joined by a cadre of guest musicians for a career-spanning and cinematic performance that features creative choreography and visuals.
- Runtime
- 1h 28m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison
Something Wild (1986)
Comedy · Crime · Romance · R
A free-spirited woman "kidnaps" a yuppie for a weekend of adventure. But the fun quickly takes a dangerous turn when her ex-con husband shows up.
- Runtime
- 1h 54m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, Ray Liotta









Comments
Talk about the film with other members