Review-
The Great beauty revolves around the life of Jep Gamberdella
(Toni Servillo), writer of his only novel and daily columnist. But instead of
introducing us to him right away, film-maker Paulo Sorrentino first acquaints
us with the world he lives in. He takes us through Jep’s 65th birthday party,
infested with people who seem to have made conscious effort to distinguish
themselves from one another, at face value. We learn later on that they back up
their unique senses of identity by working hard to acquire cultured
tastes and artistic sensibilities.
Then we meet our protagonist, Jep Gamberdella. Sorrentino
slowly closes in on him, showing him as a man who doesn’t feel part of the
happenings despite being involved. Jep talks to us, revealing that he’s proud
to have made it into the highlife. He goes on to confess, “I didn’t just want
to live the highlife. I wanted to be the king
of the highlife. I didn’t want to just go to parties; I wanted to have the
power to make them a failure.”
