{"id":1474,"date":"2014-02-24T01:24:08","date_gmt":"2014-02-24T00:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wakapedia.it\/?p=1474"},"modified":"2017-09-12T14:14:11","modified_gmt":"2017-09-12T12:14:11","slug":"la-grande-bellezza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wakapedia.it\/en\/la-grande-bellezza\/","title":{"rendered":"LA GRANDE BELLEZZA\uff08The Great Beauty\uff0f\u8ffd\u61b6\u306e\u30ed\u30fc\u30de\uff09"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Great Beauty<\/a><\/strong>\u201d (La Grande bellezza), a joint-Italian\/French produced film released in 2013<\/strong> from the Napoli-born director Paolo Sorrentino<\/a><\/strong>, who also assumed story and script-writing duties. At the time of writing (02\/2014<\/strong>) \u201cThe Great Beauty<\/strong>\u201d, having premiered at the Cannes Film Festival<\/strong>, has won awards at the BAFTA<\/strong>s, the Golden Globes<\/strong> and the 86th<\/sup> Academy Awards<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Writer Jep (Toni Servillo) spends his 65<\/strong>th<\/sup> birthday in Rome, city of splendor and beauty. Jep is a writer, but with only one novel to his name, published many years ago. Able to rely on that one success, Jep foregoes further writing, living a life free of financial pressures. Nights after nights are spent at the hedonistic and lavish parties of the wealthy and intellectual elite, in a lifestyle that is as decadent as it is extravagant. The reason behind his failure to publish again is that he never found his own Great Beauty. His search for that continues to this day.<\/p>\n

\"lagrandebellezza\"<\/a>

Tony Servillo (Jep), the main character of The Great Beauty<\/p><\/div>\n

WAKAPEDIA’s La Grande Bellezza<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This film is a tribute to Rome<\/strong> itself. To this day, many directors have used Rome as an inspiration or even as a protagonist of sorts in their films. Critics have highlighted the strong influence of Federico Fellini<\/a>\u2019<\/strong>s \u201cLa Dolce Vita<\/a><\/strong>\u201d, but I feel that Sorrentino has gone further, depicting both sides of Rome\u2019s mask – the beautiful and the ugly – in a way that Fellini never did. The film begins with a Japanese tourist attempting to capture the beauty of this Eternal City – but collapsing and dying in the process, presumably of shock or a heart attack. What follows is the stark profile of the lush yet poisonous nightlife of Rome.\u00a0What is striking is that this is Rome depicted by a Neapolitan director. It\u2019s a vision of Rome not held by the local populace. It\u2019s a beautiful artistic piece, born of Sorrentino\u2019s cinematic mastery and eye for framing a scene.\u00a0From the conversations of the debauched elite in the film, few may also draw comparisons to Antonioni<\/a>\u2019<\/strong>s The Night<\/a> <\/strong><\/em>or Scola<\/a><\/strong>‘s La Terrazza<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. What I notice in Sorrentino\u2019s work is the frequent appearances of men struck with loneliness as well as the prominence of Death as a theme. Perhaps this is an insight into the heart of Sorrentino, who lost both his parents at a young age. The death he portrays is not always necessarily a physical one; it often points to the spiritual or emotional. Be aware of death, but live positively with hope for the future. That\u2019s why, in that spirit, Sorrentino\u2019s Jep picked up the pen and started creating once again.<\/p>\n

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A few movie scenes<\/p><\/div>\n

Meeting The Great beauty<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It all started here.<\/p>\n

SaraWaka:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Ciao Micol! I had a call from an agent in Rome, who said there is some kind of audition in Rome tomorrow, so could I come down from Milan\u2026 something to do with some dude called Piero\u2026 maybe Paolo Sorr\u2026etto or something. Some film director. What\u2019s the deal? I don\u2019t fancy it.<\/p>\n

Micol:<\/strong>\u00a0 Hang on, was it Paolo Sorrentino??!<\/p>\n

SaraWaka:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Yes! Maybe, something like that.<\/p>\n

Micol:<\/strong>\u00a0 Sara Waka, you dear are an idiot. Get down there asap.<\/p>\n

That was my introduction to the film, The Great Beauty<\/strong> (La Grande Bellezza). Rome in summer is brutally hot.\u00a0 In the middle of that 38<\/strong>-degree heat, I waited for my name to be called in the mercilessly aircon-free offices of Indigo Productions<\/a><\/strong>. I sat in between some old guy who reminded me of Leonardo Da Vinci and some old lady who looked like she\u2019d worked one too many nights in some dodgy nightclub. The scenario was strange enough that I found myself looking for some secret camera filming me for one of those candid camera prank shows. I found out later that the lady was in fact the actress Serena Grandi<\/a>,<\/strong> popular back in the 1980<\/strong>s, and the maestro was the Italian actor Giulio Brogi<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I waited an hour. Then it was my turn. I entered they room, where a man was sitting, with these explosive blue eyes:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYou\u2019ve learnt \u2018There Must be an Angel<\/a><\/strong>\u2019, right? Can you sing it and throw in a little dance please?\u201d he asked.\u00a0\u201cYes\u201d said I, and away I sang.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYup, you\u2019re in\u201d, were the only words that followed and I was ushered from the room. As I left, the assistant director, Giulio Cangiano, came up to me and made sure that I knew whom I was dancing in front of:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYou do know who that was right?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u201cHonestly\u2026 not really\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThat was the director! Paolo Sorrentino himself.\u201d<\/p>\n