Cornerhouse Pick of the Week: The Great Beauty

This week I went to see Paolo Sorrentino’s latest Oscar submission, La Grande Bellezza; upon exiting the Cornerhouse, I can see why it’s Oscar nominated. Sorrentino has teamed up with the fantastic acting talents of Toni Servillo to pay homage to the works of Federico Fellini and La Dolce Vita.

Servillo plays middle aged, high society journalist, Jep Gambarella, a man with an irresistible charisma who, after receiving a jolt from his past, goes out in search for something missing from his present.

The film has vibrant personality and a dark sense of humour which manifests in a critique of the superficiality and decadence in modern day society, religion, art, literature and the youth. Its subject matter can sometimes be a little disorientating, as in a particular scene when Jep addresses the audience directly, establishing the rules one must follow to show feigned grief when at a funeral; the disorientating part is in the next scene when he puts those rules into practice.

We can’t help but take to Jep Gambarella when we first meet him, holding a cigarette between his teeth in front of a broad grin. His opening scene is actually his 65^th birthday, which is a decadent, raving rooftop party, filled with middle aged, and older, men and women, furiously dancing to the latest club music in a desperate attempt to reclaim their youth.

The further we follow Jep, the more we begin to love his soft approach and gentle demeanour, something which works well with his truthful and insightful commentary. His calm charisma in the dense and hectic nightlife of Rome draws in the audience who become powerless against his charming seductions, much like many of the women in the film. Soon, we find ourselves drawn into his search for a missing element in his life as he sifts through Rome, beyond its strings of clubs, strippers, alcohol and drugs.

Sorrentino’s script is far from vague or wasteful as it delivers sharp, witty dialogue in a refreshing explosion of dark humour, commenting on the experiences of getting old, especially in the privileged high society circles Jep often frequents. Furthermore, Sorrentino frames Rome’s beauty in a vibrant yet noir style giving the audience the opportunity to experience the city’s beauty culture as Jep does; the sculptured works of art within the palaces of Rome under candle light, Rome’s ancient ruins as well as a breath-taking view of the Colosseum from Jep’s apartment.

Although the film is abrupt at times and somewhat divergent from the plot, its exploration of the physical beauty of Rome, hidden beneath a seedy, intoxicated and decadent mask, pushed La Grande Bellezza into the realm of masterpieces; by the end of the film, we understand exactly what Jep means when he says “the trains in Italy are the best in the world, because they are the only ones that don’t go anywhere.”