I see nearly every art film that comes to town. This is just my opinion, but I think The Great Beauty was one of the worst of 2013. It's almost all spectacle and almost no substance. There is no story to speak of and little character development; just two hours and twenty minutes of mostly unrelated scenes showing the decadence of Rome's affluent. The movie reveals less of the city itself than you might think based on the reviews. And many of the scenes are at night, limiting what you can see.
Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo), the main character, is one of the few people in the film who are halfway likable. Most of the other characters are types whom you would be happy never to meet in real life. Servillo has a very expressive face, and I'm sure he would be interesting to watch in a better movie. But here he is forced to wander aimlessly through scene after vacuous scene. Supposedly, Jep is taking stock of his life now that he's reached his 65th birthday. You keep expecting him to have some kind of epiphany, but there is little evidence of it on the screen.
Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo), the main character, is one of the few people in the film who are halfway likable. Most of the other characters are types whom you would be happy never to meet in real life. Servillo has a very expressive face, and I'm sure he would be interesting to watch in a better movie. But here he is forced to wander aimlessly through scene after vacuous scene. Supposedly, Jep is taking stock of his life now that he's reached his 65th birthday. You keep expecting him to have some kind of epiphany, but there is little evidence of it on the screen.