La Grande Bellezza: The star of the European Union Film Festival 2014
PUBLISHED May 6th, 2014 12:59 am | UPDATED June 3rd, 2020 12:16 am
The annual European Union Film Festival (EUFF) is once again upon us, and is primed to give us a taste of Europe’s diversity and creativity through film. Providing a window into the intriguing world of European cinema, look into that window and you will find a star gleaming very brightly. That star is the film La Grande Bellezza.
Explore the human side of Rome, through the eyes of Jep Gambardella, a writer who doesn’t write, not anymore, as he searches for the elusive ‘beauty’ of life. Tired and more than a little jaded, Gambardella, is floating, lost in life as he luxuriates in his apartment in a prime spot with a view overlooking the Coliseum, throwing party after party.
Directed by Paolo Sorrentino, La Grande Bellezza is a film about a writer’s (Gambardella’s) awakening from the inebriation of Rome’s excesses and pleasures. Award-winning Tony Servillo masterfully portrays the feelings of Gambardella and by extension, the goings on of Italian bourgeois society, as seen in his interaction with his friends and people around him.
For the uninitiated, going in to watch the film without knowing much about it, it may take a while before the light bulb comes on as all you see is hedonism in excess. As the film progresses, you come to understand why Gambardella does what he does and feel for him as what he goes through is something many can relate to.
La Grande Bellezza is a film of its time, reflecting Roman society that still holds its age old beauty behind the decay of life, earning not only an Oscar for the best foreign film at the 86th Academy Awards, BAFTAs and Golden Globes, but also huge accolades for Sorrentino for ‘making Rome and the whole country proud,’ according to Rome’s Mayor.
Not to be missed is the rest of the impressive line up of 27 diverse films of the festival, all with accolades of their own. From films with strong historical characters, like Swiss film Mary Queen of Scots; Polish biopic Walesa: Man of Hope of President Lech Walesa who made history during the changing tide of Communism; to Czech tragicomedy Leaving by the former President Vaclav Havel; and you can also root for the intrepid explorer Thor Heyerdal in Norway’s Kon-Tiki.
Those who want to experience a new genre have a pick of two silent films – Spanish award-winning reinterpretation of Snow White and Estonian romantic drama Living Images that brings back the vintage black and white spectacle.
The 24th European Union Film Festival  runs from 15 – 25 May 2014 at Shaw Theatres Lido. For more information, screening times and ticketing information see the EUFF website here.
