The Great Beauty

Fellini for the new millennium, or an ode to Rome and the life of the campaign city’s upper crust packaged in a portrait of an old dandy looking back on his own life while raising question about the essence of artistic creation, creative distinction and faith. With its style straddling the line between parable, dreams and magical realism, The Great Beauty inevitably evokes the Fellini classics La Dolce Vita, 8½ and Roma, but it does not in any way copy or plagiarise them. It just addresses the same themes in the same spirit, though with respect to the age and misanthropic nature of the main character, it focuses on different elements and values. (26/06/2013)

Only Paolo Sorrentino can meditate on life like this. To understand The Great Beauty, one must have matured and have experienced some things in life. It's hard to find the right words here, as one's own experiences are not transferable. After watching the movie for the second time, I perceive everything much more deeply. Perhaps the third viewing will really break me apart... (85%) (26/05/2021)

A very interesting film that slightly pretends to be a contemplation on old age, slightly as a glimpse into the realm of the wealthy and their lives, which move at a frantic pace and it doesn't matter how old you are, but it's actually an existential drama about the place of a person in the world. And it doesn't matter who you are, because if you don't realize what you actually want, what you're doing, where you're heading, your life will stop making sense. You won't have a goal. Nevertheless, it is possible to live like this. The film may be a bit too long and in some passages draggy, but especially the first half offers truly unique, original, and definitely unexpected scenes. The scene on the balcony is then almost surreally magical. (31/12/2013)

Episodes from the life of Roman high society, which in themselves are filmmaking glamor. The Great Beauty is a visual gem, abstract not only in its image, but also in terms of content. It’s not possible to absorb it all in a single viewing, as the sheer number of thoughts and reflections requires watching it again. And even if you still don’t absorb them all, you will remain dazzled by the atmosphere and elegance of the film, touched by the harmony between the camerawork and editing, which is simply incredible. Paolo Sorrentino is from outer space. The disco party at the beginning of The Great Beauty beats the entire Great Gatsby. (05/07/2013)

A lot of ideas, a whole bunch of opinions and a brutal deal of philosophizing. And on top of that you get a visual side that will make many an eye melt away. I accept all that, but at the same time it wasn’t an easy movie for me to handle the first time. I will definitely watch it again… someday. But now please give me a moment to fully realize what it was that I actually saw. The Great Beauty is a crazy critique of a society. A critique of fleetingness, arrogance, vanity… and some of the scenes were so crazy I don’t think I will ever get them out of my head. (04/01/2014)