La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty)
This is a movie (IMDB) that is outstanding to a level that even other incredible productions of the same author and director, Paolo Sorrentino, are mere dim lights under its shining decadent beauty.
But I wonder if this is what it really is. Is it a tale of a decadent beauty or the story of beauty upon beauty, of many and different kinds, of little mundane and eternal pleasures that are overlapping.
The movie aesthetic is the core and yet it does not overshadow a majestic acting of Toni Servillo who blends in the aesthetic himself, giving a performance that goes far beyond acting.
The plot is about the city (don't ever forget it!) and about a man, an author of just one book that is still incredible successful. You can see the parallel right? Because of this book this man, this city maintain its importance and indeed still continue to play an important role, well deserved even.
They are surrounded by the 'gods' of the time, people that popped out of the blue into the world stage of the eternal city and then disappear, people that mask themselves to stay where they are, afraid of the oblivion... it is a story of decadence and its beauty, but with the realism that this is what has always been: beauty is the present lie of a blurred and adapted past, fit to suit our own ego.
You will appreciate the slow movie and the overwhelming images/portraits that the directors gives. The art and the unchangeable colossal past overshadow the present that they have made what it is. Enjoy the aesthetic and tale. You will love it. But do not stay on the surface, think about it when you watch it. Later it could be too much.
It is a movie to be watched many times. It will always be fascinating.
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