Bertolucci films are always magnificent to look at. From the epic scenes of The Last Emperor to the claustrophobic bedroom in Last Tango, he is a film-maker whose mastery of visual language is immense. Stealing Beauty is no exception. Right from the start, the film has a dream-like beauty which reflects its 19-year-old protagonist, Lucy (played by the stunning Liv Tyler). Lucy is beautiful, naive, dreamy and still a virgin. Her mother's suicide prompts her to go to Italy to visit her parents' bohemian friends...
There is nothing really wrong with this film but there isn't much to it either. The story is extremely slight, and even some good performances (particularly from Charles Dance as the dying man) can't save it from being slightly dull. It hints at some interesting themes - the way the post-AIDS generation is more hesitant about sex, how the past haunts the present - but does little with them. Instead, Bertolucci seems content to focus the camera on Tyler for most of the film, trying to intoxicate us with her breathtaking beauty to make us forget that there's nothing much here. This works for a while, aided greatly by the short summer dresses and some lovely scenery, but basically it can't carry the film through its entire length. Somewhere along the way I just got bored.
If this happens to be on, you could do a lot worse, but it's definitely not worth a trip to the cinema to see - not even to the video shop, I don't think. Considering Bertolucci's pedigree, I had expected better from Stealing Beauty, but I suppose everyone has their off days. Average.
There is nothing really wrong with this film but there isn't much to it either. The story is extremely slight, and even some good performances (particularly from Charles Dance as the dying man) can't save it from being slightly dull. It hints at some interesting themes - the way the post-AIDS generation is more hesitant about sex, how the past haunts the present - but does little with them. Instead, Bertolucci seems content to focus the camera on Tyler for most of the film, trying to intoxicate us with her breathtaking beauty to make us forget that there's nothing much here. This works for a while, aided greatly by the short summer dresses and some lovely scenery, but basically it can't carry the film through its entire length. Somewhere along the way I just got bored.
If this happens to be on, you could do a lot worse, but it's definitely not worth a trip to the cinema to see - not even to the video shop, I don't think. Considering Bertolucci's pedigree, I had expected better from Stealing Beauty, but I suppose everyone has their off days. Average.