FRANCE: Rome in splendour, Italy in demise in La Grande Bellezza at Cannes festival

Record ID: 187259

  • Title: FRANCE: Rome in splendour, Italy in demise in La Grande Bellezza at Cannes festival
  • Date: 22nd May 2013
  • Summary: CANNES, FRANCE (MAY 21, 2013) (REUTERS) THE MOON CANNES POSTER VARIOUS SINGER AND ACTRESS KYLIE MINOGUE WITH DIRECTOR LEOS CARAX VARIOUS MINOGUE MINOGUE REJOINS CARAX FIREWORKS TO RED CARPET VARIOUS FIREWORKS CAST AND CREW OF 'LA GRANDE BELLEZZA' (GREAT BEAUTY) ARRIVE ON THE RED CARPET PHOTOGRAPHERS ACTOR TONI SERVILLO HUGS DIRECTOR PAOLO SORRENTINO ACTRESSES ANITA KRAVOS, GALATEA RANZI, ANNA DELLA ROSA, ACTOR ROBERTO HERLITZKA, ACTRESS SABRINA FERILLI, ACTOR CARLO VERDONE, ACTRESS ISABELLA FERRARI, DIRECTOR PAOLO SORRENTINO, ACTOR TONI SERVILLO, ACTRESS GUISI MERLI CAST AND CREW ON CARPET PAOLO SORRENTINO WITH SABRINA FERILLI AND ISABELLA FERRARI MORE OF CAST AND CREW CLIMBING THE STEPS FIREWORKS TONI SERVILLO AND SORRENTINO CAST AND CREW ON CARPET
  • Embargoed: 6th June 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA9OREO1F34SAPRWAAV2BOQA0CW
  • Story Text: Paolo Sorrentino's "La Grande Bellezza" ("The Great Beauty"), a nostalgic, melancholic ode to the eternal city of Rome, is one of several films that touch on the unravelling of contemporary Italy in the official selection at the Cannes film festival this year.
    Bathed in the beautiful Roman light of yellows and golds, "La Grande Bellezza" is a lush, sweeping film that both critiques the emptiness of life and revels in it.
    We first meet protagonist Jep Gambardella, played by Toni Servillo, at a late-night bash that makes the famed "bunga bunga" parties of Silvio Berlusconi look tame.
    Jep is living the high life on the laurels of a famous novel he wrote 40 years ago, and now at 65 is stuck in a rut.
    As he reflects on the possibility of writing again, he questions his hedonistic life and his rich, vapid friends, whom he entertains at raucous parties at his apartment overlooking Rome's Colosseum.
    "It's not a criticism of the high life, it's rather a representation of a world which makes me feel indulgent and also makes me feel a sense of tenderness," Sorrentino told Reuters.
    With its thousands of years of civilization on show at every turn, Rome is a character in "The Great Beauty" and Sorrentino's camera guides us like a privileged guest through locked palaces, interior courtyards and private terraces.
    However, Sorrentino said he was not inspired by the city.
    "I don't believe in inspiration. I believe in applying hard work every day so contrary to Jep, I work a lot -- I don't waste my time," he said.
    The cast and crew of "La Grande Bellezza" headed up the red carpet on Wednesday accompanied by stars including Kylie Minogue and director Leos Carax.
    Sorrentino's "Il Divo" ("The Divine") based on Italy's ex- Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, won Cannes' 2008 Jury Prize.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Audio restrictions: This clip's Audio includes copyrighted material. User is responsible for obtaining additional clearances before publishing the audio contained in this clip.
Register