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.
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.
– Geoff Pevere,
Globe and Mail,
31 Jan 2014
fresh:
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.
– J. R. Jones,
Chicago Reader,
30 Jan 2014
fresh:
A riotous film that finds depth, clarity and refreshment in even the shallowest of pools.
– Peter Howell,
Toronto Star,
30 Jan 2014
fresh:
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.
– Tom Long,
Detroit News,
16 Jan 2014
fresh:
Though there's precious little drama, Sorrentino's skills as an image-maker are indisputable.