
Italian Film Club: The Great Beauty | Reel Lives
Nerve Centre, 7-8 Magazine Street, Derry~Londonderry
Admission: £6 + booking fee
Italian Film Club at Nerve Cinema, a series of ongoing screenings showcases Italian culture and language through contemporary and classic titles from Italian cinema.
Jep Gambardella was once hailed as a literary genius for his debut novel, but in the years since has plied his trade as a columnist for a Rome newspaper.
A giant amongst the city’s high society, he nevertheless feels he has failed in life. And he sees the world he once embraced as a venal, self-interested place. But how to escape the present and recapture the spirit and romanticism of his youth?
Sorrentino regular Toni Servillo is outstanding as Gambardella, at once charming and needy, smart and insecure. And the ensemble cast perfectly captures the grotesquery of this world. But the true star is Rome itself, which Sorrentino captures in all of its grandeur. Rhapsodic and visually dazzling, this satirical Oscar®-winner is the worthy successor to Fellini’s La Dolce Vita.
Paolo Sorrentino | Italy, France | 2013 | 141 mins | Subtitled | 15