The Great Beauty

The Great Beauty is a 2013 Italian film co-written and directed by Paolo Sorrentino, packaged on DVD.

You haven't seen Rome until you've seen The Great Beauty. One of the most spectacular and internationally heralded films of the year, Paolo Sorrentino's A­cademy Award winner is a powerful and evocative tale of hedonism and lost love, and an extraordinary depiction of contemporary Rome.

65-year-old Jep Gambardella (the phenomenal Toni Servillo) is a jaded journalist and wealthy bon vivant whose early promise as a novelist has never been fulfilled, though his infamy remains. He lives in a luxurious apartment overlooking the Colosseum and is a regular of Rome's party circuit for the elite, a never-ending nocturnal parade of decadence that rages through antique palaces, immense villas and opulent terraces around the Eternal City. His worldview begins to shift after a man arrives on his doorstep and informs him of the death of his first love. Both troubled and moved by the revelation, Jep is flooded with memories of the past and ponders the promise of what may remain…

Subtitled

Special Features:

• ‘Backstage’ – Behind the Scenes Featurette

Awards:

• Won Oscar Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
• Won Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Film
• Won BAFTA Film Award Best Film not in the English Language
• 19 other wins and 43 nominations

Critic Reviews:

• " Sorrentino's heady, vivid yet wearily melancholic musing on midlife crisis submerges you in sumptuousness until you emerge, blinking, as if from some impossibly glamorous party. " – Larushka Ivan-Zadeh

• " I can't remember when a film last gave me such a surge of pure pleasure – no, outright euphoria – as The Great Beauty. " – Jonathan Romney

• " A riotous film that finds depth, clarity and refreshment in even the shallowest of pools. " – Peter Howell