I find it to be one of his most sublime achievements, filled with a sunny laziness and slow awakening.
Stealing Beauty (1996)
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Reviews Counted:47
Fresh:24
Rotten:23
Average Rating:5.8/10
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: When 19-year-old Lucy Harmon (Liv Tyler) arrives in Tuscany, wondering about her mother (a recent suicide) and still nursing a crush on Niccolo, the local playboy she met on a visit four years... When 19-year-old Lucy Harmon (Liv Tyler) arrives in Tuscany, wondering about her mother (a recent suicide) and still nursing a crush on Niccolo, the local playboy she met on a visit four years earlier, everyone sits up and takes notice--especially director Bernardo Bertolucci, who trains his camera on the ingenue with understandable enthusiasm. The Graysons, who own the artists' colony and villa where Lucy's mother once wrote poetry, take the young girl in, and their guests enjoy the infusion of youth. Perhaps most deeply affected is Alex Parrish (Jeremy Irons), a terminally ill writer who finds Lucy charming and vital. Before such attentions, Lucy's interest in Niccolo (who turns out to be a jerk) quickly fades, replaced by an unexpected mystery regarding the identity of her father and a possible new love. And in a further attempt to understand her mother, Lucy writes light little poems as well. (Bertolucci has her words appear on the screen as she scribbles.) In fact, everything seems light in lush and lovely in Tuscany, which provides a gorgeous setting for the gifted ensemble to play out their intrigues. [More]
Starring: Liv Tyler, Jeremy Irons, Donal McCann, Stefania Sandrelli
Starring: Liv Tyler, Jeremy Irons, Donal McCann, Stefania Sandrelli, Jean Marais, Francesco Siciliano, Sinead Cusack, D.W. Moffett, Rachel Weisz
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Screenwriter: Susan Minot
Story: Bernardo Bertolucci
Producer: Jeremy Thomas
Composer: Richard Hartley
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Reviews for Stealing Beauty
What do you call a character study with shallow, sketchily-drawn characters, but a gorgeous setting? A scenery study, perhaps. Or an atmosphere study.
An intriguing, good-looking movie, and character-driven in the best sense. But truly, it's fanciful.
Stealing Beauty demonstrates that director Bernardo Bertolucci is as adept at intimate drama as he is with epic productions.
The script is in keeping with the fabric of the film. It's languid and meanders about a bit, but, coupled with the lush and inviting Tuscany countryside, this is not a bad thing at all.
The movie plays like the kind of line a rich older guy would lay on a teenage model, suppressing his own intelligence and irony in order to spread out before her the wonderful world he would like to give her as a gift.
While former model Tyler can work the camera, her performance is generally awkward.
In my view, Bernardo Bertolucci is one of the world’s most overrated high profile filmmakers.
The result is more tedious than insightful, and the film just meekly limps along, without any wit, passion or fire.
For all the film's missteps, there is cause to echo the uncritical compliment bestowed by the playwright (Jeremy Irons) upon the film's ingenue (Liv Tyler): 'I so enjoyed watching you.'
Even a lesser Bertolucci is an event, and Stealing Beauty has its charms.
You can keep Liv Tyler as an actress altogether as far as I'm concerned.
This is a film of false starts, dead ends and pointless distractions which pays too little attention to what should be its central premise.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 90% 90% | District 9 |
| 86% 86% | 500 Days of Summer |
| 63% 63% | Extract |
| 06% 06% | All About Steve |
| 78% 78% | It Might Get Loud |
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