The Great Beauty
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“The Misery of Some People:” Paolo Sorrentino on The Great Beauty
Since its premiere at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty has enjoyed much critical and theatrical success — alongside the more unwanted La Dolce Vita comparisons and projected criticism of the Berlusconi era. In speaking with the filmmaker behind this alternately bombastic and meditative examination of a writer adrift in the eternal and ostentatious city, however, one senses that Sorrentino’s intentions were not nearly as biting as some have gathered. Yes, there is a Bishop more infatuated with food than God, a woman who strips for the love of the profession, a child who earns millions by having […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Feb 7, 2014 -
Five Questions with The Great Beauty Director Paolo Sorrentino
The interview below first ran as part of Filmmaker‘s coverage of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, where The Great Beauty had its world premiere. It is released today through Janus Films. Paolo Sorrentino’s latest film, The Great Beauty, premiered in competition in Cannes this year, wowing fans with its over-the-top depiction of modern Rome. Seen through the sad eyes of an aging journalist, Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo), the film uncovers a series of unsettling scenes where everyone in Rome aims to be an actor on his or her own stage. And Jep is at the center of it all, a man who squandered his […]
by Ariston Anderson on Nov 15, 2013 -
Five Questions with The Great Beauty Director Paolo Sorrentino
Paolo Sorrentino’s latest film, The Great Beauty, premiered in competition in Cannes this year, wowing fans with its over-the-top depiction of modern Rome. Seen through the sad eyes of an aging journalist, Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo), the film uncovers a series of unsettling scenes where everyone in Rome aims to be an actor on his or her own stage. And Jep is at the center of it all, a man who squandered his writing talents in exchange for a hard-partying lifestyle. He is surrounded by characters too distracted by their urban surroundings to make anything meaningful. Yet behind every image of decadence […]
by Ariston Anderson on Jun 14, 2013 -
Cannes 2013: Gray’s The Immigrant and Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty
James Gray’s The Immigrant is Classic Hollywood melodrama, done incredibly well, a film that powerfully portrays the emotional journey of a Polish immigrant, Ewa (Marion Cotillard), and her pimp, Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix). It offers a powerful historical account of the connections between the mass immigration to the United States and the often desperate desire to achieve the American Dream, while also serving as a brutal reminder of the ways in which that dream was exploited by people who were willing to take advantage of new arrivals, many of whom were overwhelmed by their new home. Gray’s film borrows from classical […]
by Chuck Tryon on May 24, 2013 -
Cannes 2013: Portraits of Purgatory
Portraits of purgatory dot this year’s Cannes Film Festival, with movies that run the gamut in terms of styles and techniques: epic drama, cheeky comedy, documentary, animation, and surrealism. No matter what the setting, the plight is the same, with characters stuck in a cycle of emotional limbo where hope for happiness floats tantalizingly but incessantly out of reach. The most accomplished of the group is The Great Beauty, Paolo Sorrentino’s voluptuously crafted riff on La Dolce Vita and a masterful study of 65-year-old Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo), a dilettante journalist still coasting on the acclaim of a single early-career […]
by Stephen Garrett on May 22, 2013 -
IN PRODUCTION: “NYMPHOMANIAC,” “FEED THE DOG,” “THE GREAT BEAUTY” AND “THE RIGHT KIND OF WRONG”
“In Production” is a regular column which focuses on notable independent films that are currently shooting. If you would like your film to be included in this space, please send an email to nick@filmmakermagazine.com Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac is only two days into filming and has already stirred a great deal of controversy (no surprise there). The film has been described as an erotic drama that, according to star Shia LaBeouf, will feature hard-core pornographic sex scenes (the producers insist that “body doubles and visual effects” will be used). Von Trier plans to release it in two parts – each in a soft-core […]
by Byron Camacho on Aug 29, 2012
