The Great Beauty
Dir: Paolo Sorrentino
2013
*****
I watched The Great Beauty as a 35 year old. Paolo Sorrentino made it when he was 42. I can't even begin to imagine someone just seven years older than me making such a masterpiece. Masterpieces are created by youth all the time but they generally come from the passion, the creativity, the angst of adolescence and of course some are born lucky and some have either privileged or horrific backgrounds that sometimes provide opportunity and evoke that certain gen a se qua needed for an idea or statement to flourish. The Great Beauty feels like it should be the work of an old man, someone with a lifetime of experience, not someone barely out of their 30s. Therefore my own conclusion is that Paolo Sorrentino is an utter genius. The Great Beauty is hands down the best film of 2013. Like all masterpieces, the film explores every aspect of life we experience but in the subtlest of ways. The Great Beauty is life and The Great Beauty is Rome. I totally relate to Sorrentino, as I also both love and hate the City I live in although Rome beats London for beauty every time. Some of the film is open to interpretation but most of the time it feels more like an open statement, for want of a better description. Toni Servillo is amazing as our protagonist, delivering astounding drama when he needs to and excelling at the subtle humor of the script effortlessly. This is Italian cinema at its best, Paolo Sorrentino is the new Fellini, Rossellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini and with age on his side, just might outshine the lot of them.