The Great Beauty (La grande bellezza)

The Great Beauty is a film that centres around a 65 year old man called Jep.
i picked up from watching this film that the cinematography is beautiful, with elegant tracking shots of Rome that draw the viewer into the loveliness of Jep's world even if age and experience seems to have robbed him of the ability to feel and see this great beauty himself. As he questions his life, past and present, of lost opportunities not just professionally but personal aswell.

The scenery is amazing and how the film was portrayed in such an exquisite place.The storyline is what got me the most interested, the fact that he lives in Rome a visually beautiful place and all he see's around him is death, it was almost like he was waiting to be taken as well.

What i found intriguing is in a magnificent place like Rome Jep couldn't find inspiration to write a second novel, it was almost like he had given up with his dream after he heard his one true love had died.

One of the aspects that wasn't so 'beautiful' to me, the party's at night.It polluted my vision of an old fashioned innocent Rome, when all the old people were partying like they were 20 years old. and that really put me off.

The religious aspect didn't drip in, half way through the film it came in from the side and just swept you off your feet, took you by surprise and i have to applaud Sorrentino as that was powerful and worked so well.


Although the film was Italian with only English subtitles, i thought that's all that was needed as the scenery, music, images and dialogues told the story.