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The Great Beauty

The Great Beauty

2013
Comedy, Drama
2h 21m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 69.38% from 1895 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(1895)
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Rated 12 Sep 2013
85
92nd
Everything a good European art-house film should be: Unapologetically self-indulgent, excessively Intertextual, seductively sensual, joyously self-deprecating and most importantly thoroughly entertaining.
Rated 12 Sep 2013
75
77th
The definition of debonair. Great acting from Toni Servillo, perfectly cast as a man who, although he's beginning to feel his age, upholds his old way of life. While the parties offer an infectious energy that is undeniable, I would personally tire of these people rather quickly. Sorrentino showcases and exposes the decadent, the pretentious and the plain weird participants on the Roman nightlife scene. Thankfully, though, like Jeb, he does so with nonchalance and pleasantly unforced self-irony.
Rated 08 Feb 2014
50
14th
Better cinematography than Fellini, but everything else was just as pretentious and boring--except the initial party was OK.
Rated 09 Mar 2014
90
80th
"La Dolce Vita" and Fellini in general are obvious influences here but I was pleased to find that it never feels like Sorrentino is merely copying or imitating Fellini, but more so using his inspiration to breathe meaning and appeal into the progression of ideas and images which constitute this original film on aging, dreams and society's hollowness.
Rated 17 Jan 2014
90
96th
It reminds me of 'Once Upon A Time in America' and 'La Dolce Vita'. Both directed by Italian powerhouses. As the title suggests, it is a film of great cinematic beauty, both in its cinematography and its depiction of modern Roman life. One of the best films on generation gaps, religion and the emptiness of society.
Rated 30 Mar 2014
1
0th
The Great Beauty was a great disappointment. The opening scene was overly loud and trashy and then just got into some weird territory. It's not even the fun kind of weird, it's the long, overdrawn gouge your eyes out with a spork weird. This is also another film to add to my "Movies about writers that I hate" category. Writers love to write movies about being writers. It's so egocentric and overdone...
Rated 23 Apr 2014
95
92nd
An elegant journey through Rome behind the eyes of an aging writer becoming more introspective after his 65th birthday. It is both bitter and sweet. To characterize it simply as an ode to Fellini, whether as praise or pejorative, is to be far too reductive of its spectacle of nightlife and the silent twilight that follows. And because Jep doesn't fully abandon the lifestyle, it never seems preachy. Because he is aware of his own flaws, it isn't given a free pass. It's a great film.
Rated 24 Jul 2013
97
99th
Probably the most entertaining, delightful, intellectual soothing and relaxed art-house movie I have ever seen. It even mocks itself.
Rated 17 Jan 2014
76
56th
Somewhat pretentious...ironically the very things that the film portends to expose it becomes.
Rated 04 Dec 2019
88
87th
It's a daunting task, but The Great Beauty approaches - and may just achieve - the deeply internalized, self-effacing, and contradictorily aggrandizing perspective favored by poets, narcissists, writers and charlatans. It's a selfish wistfulness that flirts with true melancholy but knows melancholy is bullshit. Sorrentino's camera, Jeb's proxy, is full of insight: choirs with no audience and empty riverboats and saints without shoes and a museum tour in the dark. And it's all beautiful.
Rated 06 Dec 2014
88
84th
a decadently beautiful film about decadence. it is visually stunning, and full of flashing moments of beauty. at times it is so powerful and moving, and at other times it's convoluted and excessive, at times it's empty, at other times profound. the film itself represents impeccably the themes it explores within. there was a lot to process, and at times it did feel like sensory overload, but it's a film that left me with questions, with intrigue, and it's a film that i will watch again.
Rated 30 Jun 2016
72
32nd
Visually striking from the compositions and framing to the colour and movement I was engaged by how things were being shown even when I had little interest in the content. The content is a mixed bag. At times the film is straight up snarky and directly critical, and those moments are the best ones, but most of the satire is more indirect, and less interesting, and whenever the film expresses something that isn't criticism it reveals itself to be as shallow as what it criticizes.
Rated 17 Feb 2014
92
94th
Top notch character reveal, what a face. This is more a filmed painting by Sorrentino covering swatches of Rome, each scene coming with the quality of a fashion house advertisement. I have absolutely no qualms if the Italians re-imagine LDV and apply it to their current plight every directorial generation if this is the result. Highlights are the dressing down sequence, the rising Roman pessimism & the entire pre-title menagerie.
Rated 23 Feb 2014
10
9th
Felt longer than Italian spaghetti. Maybe if Martini didn't put so many ads in the movie, it wouldn't be so long and boring...
Rated 01 Jan 2014
5
42nd
Despite its technical prowess, The Great Beauty relies only on a few aphorisms and cliches to keep the philosophy moving along, and while it's fun to watch, it lacks a certain power, restlessness, peculiarity, and playful wit that it so desperately needs to be considered alongside a classic like Fellini's La Dolce Vita. I guess what I'm saying is: there are fine moments and it was well-made, but towards the end it felt derivative and uninspired. Toni Servillo was great, though.
Rated 02 Jun 2014
40
26th
Insights seemed trite if not phoney, and while it unquestionably looked and sounded very nice, it was hard not to feel that it all amounted to one long music video, which is a way of saying that it is the expression of what seems a decadent aesthetic. Hence the film's criticism of a decadent society in turn comes across as verging on the hypocritical, which is only compounded by the feeling that the film has been designed to please as widely as possible, for which it was rewarded with an Oscar.
Rated 12 Dec 2013
98
99th
This old, old something called Rome is a woman whose make-up you wipe away and see nothing but empthiness. And in this blank we see us, our nothingness. In the complemantation of this city we realize our failure of trying. Trying to find something else but the party (and the intimacy - the tits? - of your first love). It's our responsibility, as humans, to recognice our arrogance of missbelieve of knowing things. So: Lets drink up and turn the music up! And walk home - riverside. At sunrise.
Rated 03 Jan 2014
70
38th
It doesn't have much staying power since its grandness overshadows whatever unprofound and common intentions the film contains. Yet I was pretty excited by the film as it went along, impressed by the mise en scene and the perfect co-ordination of music, movements, colours, and milfs.
Rated 07 Jan 2014
65
40th
Not so much the next Fellini as it is Fellini again.
Rated 07 Jan 2014
76
41st
The Felliniesque touches sprinkled throughout (especially early on) prove to be a distraction from the core of the film, which is the subtle spiritual crisis of Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo), a fixture of the Roman high life who wrote an acclaimed novel decades earlier but is now searching, almost blindly, for the "great beauty" of life. It's overlong and wastes too much time trying to be what it isn't, but Servillo is superb, Paolo Sorrentino's direction is often elegant, and it looks lovely.
Rated 17 Dec 2013
80
61st
This has been referred to as a modern day "La Dolce Vita", which makes sense because one of its main concerns is the pretensions and emptiness of the contemporary cultural elite in Rome. Not to mention the very Fellini-like indulgence, occasional surrealism and even grotesquerie. There's a lot more going on here though than just the lifestyles of the rich and famous; it's also, largely thanks to Toni Servillo's sensitive and charismatic performance, a moving portrayal of aging, regret and loss.
Rated 04 Nov 2017
50
55th
An amusing and beautiful film but although it occasionally poked fun at privilege, opulence and religion I often felt it was doing so with the assumption that I should first be impressed by them.
Rated 07 Sep 2015
80
78th
I like the cinematography and the ending, but it's a long film.
Rated 30 Dec 2013
84
75th
Me fez realmente lembrar de Fellini, especialmente de La Dolce Vita e Otto e Mezzo.
Rated 19 Feb 2014
85
84th
Superficial self-projection and a high degree of inner emptiness of the characters and the Roman way of life portrayed in a very subtle way. Fine film art.
Rated 26 Jun 2017
90
75th
Delightful. You can see Fellini influences all around, but it has its own charm. Beautiful locations, great cast.
Rated 23 Dec 2013
85
94th
A must-see for all the pretentious artists in the world! Hoping they'll notice the joke is on them... This is a beautiful, poetic and (mostly) profound movie about art and the decadence of Italian society, maybe even the humanity altogether.
Rated 06 Jan 2015
76
43rd
A frustrating watch. I could tolerate the first 2/3 of the movie, watching the non-story unfold, teeth gritted, marvelling at the occasional stunning location, sumptuously framed shot, intricate camera move or meaty cultural discussion between the Italian high society. It was when the film took on an intensely religious theme that I knew I had had enough... and then it continued for 40 minutes. Sorrentino's exquisite style almost won me over, but his choice of themes shat all over everything.
Rated 06 Feb 2014
80
80th
By turns elegantly beautiful and pretentiously self-conscious, insightful and banal. Heavily influenced by Fellini's La Dolce Vita and Antonioni's La Notte. Improves in the mind as time passes. Deliciously decadent.
Rated 21 Dec 2013
85
68th
A Fellini-esque look at high class life in modern day Rome. Entrancing in its style and music, while being sensitive towards its lead character who is struggling with letting go of his free lifestyle as he heads into his twilight years.
Rated 18 Feb 2016
13
69th
Star Rating: ★★★1/2
Rated 09 Feb 2014
89
96th
Servillo's suits are up there with De Niro in Casino.
Rated 19 Jul 2014
90
59th
Bautiful portrayal of today's Rome, its people and their lives. The movie celebrates eternal love. Aging writer tries to find inspiration in simple things.
Rated 27 Nov 2013
85
90th
Just a modern day La Dolce Vita.
Rated 16 Sep 2013
96
99th
After spending my second time in company with this entertaining, well-written and aesthetically superior Italian film there's no doubt in my mind: This is a masterpiece and the best new film I've seen since 'Pan's Labyrinth'.
Rated 21 Dec 2014
85
94th
Really beautiful cinematography, probably the best of the year. The first 30 minutes (the opening and the party scenes) are outstanding, left me speechless, i wasn't understanding why how some bad reviews here in Italy. But after, i got it. The film stumbles, with failed tries to make a mix of 8½ spirituality and LDV mundanity. Mocking caricatures of the church, or the Left, is too easy. The flamingos (in Rome!) at the end made me laugh. Awesome anyway, Jep story stays touching and interesting.
Rated 16 Oct 2015
80
75th
The gorgeous aesthetics and sound make The Great Beauty a thoroughly worthwhile experience. At worst it's one of the best looking films you'll see, at best it could be a profoundly moving experience. For this writer, Sorrentino's efforts land somewhere in between.
Rated 24 Mar 2014
75
81st
This is an artistic movie that doesn't take itself too serious all the time. It's an unusual and refreshing plot with an older man as protagonist and the movie isn't about how close he is to death as usually. I really liked the party's scenes and the cinematography.
Rated 07 Dec 2013
9
94th
unexpectedly beautiful.
Rated 13 Jan 2014
70
46th
8 1/2 for the 21st century, only with a more diverse soundtrack, a less Mastrioanni-like lead, and an aesthetically attracting reality, with the same on the memory.
Rated 04 Dec 2014
73
46th
Maybe I missed something? Yes, it looked great and the soundtrack was beautiful, but in the end I'd say it was a victim of its own subject matter: There wasn't much going on underneath the surface. I think the world is too complicated to divide it into the stupid rich and the happy simple people. While Fellini asked the right questions in this direction, Sorrentino reminisces in the work of him without giving new aspects.
Rated 03 Feb 2017
40
10th
The intro was pretty good, but then it just went downhill, and got very tedious. There is no meaning here whatsoever, so why watch it?
Rated 09 Oct 2013
8
78th
Without having seen much of Sorrentino's work, I found this to be an assured, sensitive piece of work, providing a contemplative portrait of not only an aging socialite but as Jep puts it, the desolation of our miserable humanity. And Toni Servillo, how can you not love that awesome face ?
Rated 01 Apr 2016
95
93rd
Beautifully filmed, looking for the meaning of modern life, and accompanied by an outstanding music score. This film celebrate the life's inanity and its still beauty.
Rated 21 Jan 2014
85
85th
Audiovisually very beautiful, but also offers a lot script-wise. Anyone who's seen anything from Fellini can see the connections between him and Sorrentino.
Rated 06 Jan 2014
94
94th
1st class cinema. A sublime piece of art.
Rated 01 Nov 2016
7
73rd
Ultimately shallow and quite sad, it sums up the vacuous nature of such a superficial lifestyle, however it was punctuated with a few touching moments of beauty.
Rated 20 Dec 2013
100
98th
a very elegant summary of life...true masterpiece
Rated 03 Jan 2016
74
70th
This was such a serene experience for me. There were lots of flashy images, but core theme was stunningly soothing and peaceful. It oozed love, beauty and life!!
Rated 05 Mar 2014
85
92nd
Grande Grande Arte..
Rated 16 Dec 2013
80
82nd
3. ya da 4. izleyis. hayatta güzellik arayan yaşlı yazarımız çevresindeki eğlence dünyasında istediğini bulamaz. sahte dostlar, tensel ilişkiler, absürt düşünsel arayışlarda da istediğini bulamaz. dünya değişmiştir. sanat var ama gösteriş için. her şey gösteri dünyasına dönüşmüştür. 9/23
Rated 27 Feb 2014
20
3rd
26 Subat '14, beyoglu pera sinemasi & "It is not a just image, it is just an image." jean luc-godard
Rated 11 Jan 2015
94
99th
I mark its grade up to 90 from 87. 26oc2015 from 90 to 94
Rated 19 May 2017
85
88th
Not surrealist but wandering on the margins of the universe of possibilities.
Rated 16 Aug 2014
85
93rd
An update on "La dolce vita" and, in my book, an upgrade too. Sorrentino is hardly thrifty when it comes to visual embellishments and it's a good thing because the film's sipped in lush gorgeousness. Oh, and the superficial beauty ties in with the theme of artifice vs. reality too because the themes are nothing if not bleak and dreary. Not that there isn't humor or hope to be found. And because it's not the 60s anymore there is a lot less headachy dialogue than you'll find in any Fellini film.
Rated 21 Jan 2018
90
78th
A feast.
Rated 17 Jan 2014
62
51st
"Poverty is not described, but lived through" The film doesn't try to tell, but to express a condition of poverty. Which is not a materialistic poverty, but some other kind. A visually beautiful movie, set in Rome, takes you on a journey in Jep Gambardellas everyday life. A drama with little substance, but hidden beneath all the blah, blah ,blah, and the inconsistent flashes of beauty, there was a life.
Rated 26 Dec 2013
85
59th
A bit like La Dolce Vita meets Spring Breakers. Toni Servillo is a lot of fun to watch, and the high energy of it all is refreshing. But Sorrentino's visual acrobatics get a little exhausting after a while, and I'm usually all for flashy camera movements and edits.
Rated 20 Feb 2014
100
94th
This is awesome... the mirror of our society :)
Rated 27 Dec 2014
60
34th
About a man going through the motions for most of his life because he didn't get the girl when he was young. Some parts were unwatchable, some were beautiful. It really wanted to be deep, and comes close in places, but ultimately fails to hit the mark
Rated 05 Oct 2014
94
72nd
فیلم یه طرز خاصی گذر زمان را نشان میدهد، به نحوی که با اتمام فیلم داستان یا رمان زندگی 
Rated 31 Mar 2015
85
94th
I enjoyed it a lot. From the opening scene until the final scene, the viewer is treated with beautiful visual shots and a wonderful soundtrack. A film like this could easily come off as pretentious but not this film. A joy to watch all the way through. The plot is kind of unconventional and there are a lot of scenes that are just there, but they are generally beautiful in one way or another and add up to one memorable, thoroughly entertaining watch. Highly recommended, a work of beauty.
Rated 09 Dec 2014
68
66th
While the La Dolce Vita comparisons are obvious, they have been somewhat overstated: it's less a grandiose view of negative social change than a character study of an aging writer living in a society in terminal decline. As a character piece it's reasonably effective, thanks largely to Servillo's great performance, and the film is certainly handsomely filmed and written, but it oversteps its mark when it tries to engage in social critique, and it feels a little too sure of its own importance.
Rated 13 Jan 2014
89
96th
Fantastic cast, memmorable localizations and script sad and joyful in equal parr ts. Highly recommended.
Rated 18 Feb 2014
84
88th
Ömrünün sonlarına yaklaşmış bir adamın, yaşadığı hayat, geçmişi ya da doğrudan kendiyle yüzleşmesini derin, hüzünlü ve hem görsel, hem işitsel bir şölen halinde sunuyor. Fellini sinemasının bugüne uyarlanması gibi biraz, ama kesinlikle çok taze.
Rated 20 Nov 2019
80
77th
13.8 billion years passed, an egg gains life, a man lives, a woman dies, the story is the same.
Rated 17 Jun 2018
85
28th
Very beautiful, tells a lot about nowadays illness called "boredom"
Rated 17 Oct 2018
75
53rd
Feels like a spiritual successor to La Dolce Vita, with really cool artistic decisions that put it in the realm of an extended music video.
Rated 31 Jan 2019
95
96th
Paolo Sorrentino, La Grande Bellezza ile Roma'nın kapılarını sonuna kadar aralayarak sanat, burjuvazi ve marjinalizmi kendisine konu ediniyor ve bunu yaparken izleyiciye bir ders verme kaygısı bile gütmeden sınırları olmayan özgür bir film yaratıyor. Muazzam!
Rated 29 Apr 2019
82
96th
La Dolce Vita, but not boring
Rated 12 Aug 2019
90
81st
It's been 10 years since seeing it, and it's one of those rewatches that roughly clashes with everything I thought it was the first time I saw it. I sort of miss the movie I thought I'd seen, one that, for some reason, appears like a constant, garish party. It's one of the most melancholy films about aging I've seen, but it's also super hopeful. It seems fewer and fewer filmmakers want to embrace the optimism that comes with getting old.
Rated 03 Feb 2020
100
98th
kesinlikle özel bir film. müzikler nasıl iyi..
Rated 13 May 2021
90
90th
Timeless, a classic for me! Invites the contemplative spirit and wanders into beautiful encounters that are so well portrayed by it's visuals and audio.
Rated 06 Aug 2021
75
59th
8??"?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????…"/??????????????/??????
Rated 13 Mar 2022
79
61st
Feb 27, 2018 Kurtköy
Rated 13 Mar 2022
72
34th
Sorrentino movies just can't hit me. It feels very pretentious and trying to show so hard that "he is so deep" but in a nutshell, not the best story telling here. Cinematography and the soundtrack was pretty good but that's pretty much it.
Rated 30 Mar 2023
38
23rd
A bourgeois critique of the Roman bourgeoisie. Mostly vacuous, if not deleterious.
Rated 14 Jul 2023
63
25th
This had me early on, and the first scene is absolutely gorgeous, but it lost me slightly as it moved along. Still relatively enjoyable, but it loses some steam.
Rated 17 Sep 2023
85
90th
The Stranger for a movie-going and slightly more modern audience. Also enjoyed it visually.
Rated 21 Dec 2023
100
96th
I love this film. Paolo Sorrentino is frequently compared to Fellini, and it feels very appropriate here. In style and substance, this is very comparable to "La Dolce Vita", but not so much that it doesn't feel like it's own film. Among other things, this is very much an older man's film about looking back with regret and trying to find a way forward. It's an absolutely gorgeous looking film with stunning cinematography from usual Sorrentino collaborator Luca Bigazzi.
Rated 31 Dec 2023
59
32nd
what a waste of money. it tries to mock and criticize wealth I guess, but commits the exact some wastefulness

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