The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza)

[Beate]

The story of an aging writer who bitterly recollects his passionate, lost youth. A portrait of today's Rome.

Saw this in a members' preview at Greenwich Picturehouse this morning. There didn't seem to be a code for non-members.

Thankfully, and probably in view of the film length, the cinema decided to start the trailers at 10.45 and the film at 10.55 - and to hell with the latecomers.

I don't think I am cut out for Italian intellectual arthouse films that are 142 minutes long. For me it was more The Great Boredom. OH fell asleep straight away (even though there were bare breasts galore), and I also managed to have a bit of a snooze in the middle, only to wake up to some incomprehensible scenes with a 104 year old nun. In fact, most scenes were incomprehensible. I am afraid I couldn't care two figs whether he found great beauty or not.

This has not been a great week for films.

5/10

We managed to salvage the morning by eating some amazing Peruvian chicken and ham and cheese crepes in front of the Cutty Sark, where there's a little bit of a food market going on this summer.

[thislife95]

I'm pretty well with Beate. Some sumptuous visuals. A few really good scenes. But it seemed to be trying to be deep but to me could only manage shallow. And I was waiting for it to end. 6/10

[weirdfilms33]

I'm demonstrably late to this short-lived conversation, but I recently saw The Great Beauty at the Prince Charles Cinema and really enjoyed it, contrary to those who have posted above! Of course it's full of ennui and existential questioning, but I thought that it was genuinely colourful and intelligent enough to hold my attention. It's shot with characteristic elegance by Sorrentino, and is empowered by Toni Servillo's performance. The final few scenes have a mystical and dreamlike beauty which I've found utterly unforgettable.

9/10

[ramper77]

Totally agree with weirdfilms33. A wonderfully rich intelligent film, that will hopefully get rewarded at the Oscars. 9/10.