Review of The Great Beauty (2013) by Dawdlingpoet — 27 Nov 2021

This is very much an arty film, a bit like The Square. There are some nice instances of cinematography present. Some scenes are surprisingly quiet and the visual imagery sort of speaks for itself, in a sense. I liked the classical style/operatic music played at times. It did seem to be a bit pretentious and I think it's fair to say that some of the script is a little...quirky, shall I say. I reckon its about identity, self-identity and the identity of the area its set in (Rome, Italy). There is a seediness to some of it. The main characters are mostly middle-aged to elderly men, Italian men and I certainly didn't feel much in the way of empathy towards them, given some of what's talked about. It's somewhat thoughtful and I suppose it is a bit atmospheric. There's an interesting scene featuring a young-ish child, a girl all but attacking a large white sheet with a variety of different coloured paint, as if defending herself against it. It is not the most...clear or accessible film as such, I think its fair to say but its certainly not without any interesting aspects. There is a certain poignancy in the 2nd half of the film too, certainly towards the end of the film, although I won't go into any details so as not to spoil it for others. Some scenes are quite darkly lit, adding to the sombre sense it has.

Overall, its certainly not a bad film but its not an especially great one as such, certainly from the get go. Its ok, with some pretty good moments but its not one of the most memorable films I've seen overall. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it as such but if you enjoy films of this type then its probably worth catching if its on TV, that sort of thing, otherwise perhaps not. I liked the end credits for the background shown while their on screen. I hope this helps.