If, when you read the title of this movie, you couldn’t help but think of “The Great Gatsby” then you fell under the same spell as I did and very quickly into it you realize that there are a lot of similarities. These similarities range from the ominous neighbor who stands out on the balcony and steals the main character’s attention from the party he is at, and (not to reiterate but) the grand parties themselves.
The opening of this film is distracting and very off-putting. This has a lot to do with how lush the parties are but more so to do with the camerawork. It is astounding and it makes you take an outside perspective on the whole story because it forces you to clearly feel like you are watching a movie rather than being a part of the story. The best way to describe the camerawork is swift/captivating. The reason it does not work in the beginning is due to the partying and boisterous music that drives you insane for a solid ten minutes.
The dialogue was fantastic at times. I say “at times” because so much of the movie was symbolic nonsense. If you’ve ever seen a Fellini film you’ll understand exactly what I mean and this is without question on that level. However, when there were real moments between characters that had serious substance, the dialogue was real, wise and philosophical. Best example of the spot-on dialogue is when Jep (our protagonist) breaks down the inner-workings of a funeral. In the end, 2 hours and 20 minutes of hyper-symbolism mixed with actual story does not make for a good movie.
The Great Beauty tries to answer all the questions of life while at the same time concluding by saying that none of it matters and you know what… it’s B.S. 4.5/10
KC the Kritic 