Some of the most memorable sequences in Stealing Beauty occur in group situations. In one scene, a troupe of family members chat, sketch, and lounge in a sun drenched backyard while the camera follows each member of the family, capturing glimpses of their facial expression and bits of their conversations in what seems to be one endless take. In another scene, the camera pulls a similar track at a large outdoor celebration, this time using a few virtually seamless cuts to cover more territory and more people. These sequences, more than any other in the film, are representative of the essence of Stealing Beauty. The camera flows like a warm summer breeze, blowing through the trees and people, taking us back to your youth while rejuvenating a love for life in the moment. Stealing Beauty is about as solidly structured as such a movement; it has no finite beginning, no middle, and an abrupt end. Like so many great Italian films, it merely flows from one scene to another, defying genre or perhaps even storyline. Few films of the 1990s were so richly cinematic, and it's unlikely that Stealing Beauty would have achieved such a feat had it originated from any other country.
With all that having been said, the plot of the movie would seem rather incidental, but it obviously does set up the events of the proceedings. Lucy (Liv Tyler) is an American who travels abroad to Italy to spend the summer with the friends of her recently deceased mother and their own extended family. She houses at their exotic country villa, where the virginal nineteen year old is secretly on a quest to find the identity of her father, convinced that her `father' back home is not a biological parent. While staying in Italy, she comes of age, learning the hard truths about first love, fidelity, innocence, and her budding sexuality.
Of course such a succinct plot description lends the impression that this is an American-style loss of innocence drama, and this could not be further from the truth. The film never fully establishes itself in any genre. It is at once a drama, a comedy, a mystery, and a sex film. It is this element that adds to the film's distinctly cinematic flair, a trait that defines Italian cinema. With notable exceptions, Italian films are often (rightly or wrongly) criticized for their emphasis on the role of the director over the importance of actor and screenplay. In the case of Stealing Beauty, the latter is true but the former is not. In what had been heavily hyped as her star-making performance (the film's disappointing critical and commercial reception hampered this prospect), Liv Tyler delivers what thus far remains the finest work of her career. With her pouty lips, big blue eyes and long legs, her unconventional beauty stems from her appearance as a perennial adolescent on the verge of womanhood. Never before-and presumably never again-had this feature about her been so thoroughly exploited by a director. As Lucy, she brings to the screen the perfect mix of gawkiness and confidence, naïveté and overwhelming sexuality; she carries the presence of a femme fatale, full of mystery and fascinating to look at, and yet her heart is always planted firmly on her sleeve. She achieves that rare feat of not simply reciting lines, but speaking them; it's a performance so clearly personal and passionate that one might think we were watching a wholly improvisational film.
Yet perhaps the real star of Stealing Beauty is Bernardo Bertolucci. Best known to American audiences for his 1987 epic blockbuster The Last Emperor, Stealing Beauty gave him a chance to go back to his smaller, more intimate roots (previously his best known film was the 1972 soft-core masterpiece Last Tango in Paris) while applying his epic sensibility. He lenses the film in the Cinemascope ratio, but he does not use the frame to capture grand Italian vistas (though several are on display) or masses of people. Instead he frames, in grand style, such tender moments as Lucy's bereavement over the true identity of her first love, or the sun lit walk home from losing her virginity. The film was photographed by Darius Khondji, whose visual sensibility was arguably the most recognizable and influential throughout the late 1990s, and few times in Khondji's career has a director's style worked so beautifully with his images. Much of the action takes place under the golden rays of a burning sun, showcasing a vivid color palette as rich as the fabric of the film itself. Though it takes place in present day, the look of the film lends a distinctly nostalgic overtone to the proceedings, perhaps reminding one of a contemporary, European take on Summer of '42.
When released in the summer of 1996, Stealing Beauty was among the most highly anticipated films of the year for fans of art house cinema. There was a tremendous amount of hype surrounding Liv Tyler's "racy" lead role. It was believed, at the time, that the film could do for her Tyler in the summer of 96 what Clueless had done for Alicia Silverstone in the summer of 1995 (both had rocketed to fame as a homoerotic duo in the Aerosmith video "Crazy"). It was also expected to resuscitate the career of legendary Italian director Bertolucci after the failure of his recent films. Alas, when the film was released it drew mixed reviews and failed to appeal to mainstream filmgoers. Bertolucci's subsequent films were never even released in the United States, and aside from supporting roles in the blockbusters Armageddon and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Tyler never jelled into the movie star the way most industry pundits predicted. Nonetheless, the film remains one of the most extraordinary Italian films of the 1990s. Both Bertolucci and Tyler are in top form here, and the film's unique success as a coming-of-age film despite completely defying the mechanics of the genre is an accomplishment in and of itself. Many of the best Italian films demand that you submit yourself completely to the vision of its director for the movie's duration, putting aside whatever standards or prejudices you have previously held true. Make such a commitment to Stealing Beauty, and the film is a smashingly effective work.
My Grade : A-
With all that having been said, the plot of the movie would seem rather incidental, but it obviously does set up the events of the proceedings. Lucy (Liv Tyler) is an American who travels abroad to Italy to spend the summer with the friends of her recently deceased mother and their own extended family. She houses at their exotic country villa, where the virginal nineteen year old is secretly on a quest to find the identity of her father, convinced that her `father' back home is not a biological parent. While staying in Italy, she comes of age, learning the hard truths about first love, fidelity, innocence, and her budding sexuality.
Of course such a succinct plot description lends the impression that this is an American-style loss of innocence drama, and this could not be further from the truth. The film never fully establishes itself in any genre. It is at once a drama, a comedy, a mystery, and a sex film. It is this element that adds to the film's distinctly cinematic flair, a trait that defines Italian cinema. With notable exceptions, Italian films are often (rightly or wrongly) criticized for their emphasis on the role of the director over the importance of actor and screenplay. In the case of Stealing Beauty, the latter is true but the former is not. In what had been heavily hyped as her star-making performance (the film's disappointing critical and commercial reception hampered this prospect), Liv Tyler delivers what thus far remains the finest work of her career. With her pouty lips, big blue eyes and long legs, her unconventional beauty stems from her appearance as a perennial adolescent on the verge of womanhood. Never before-and presumably never again-had this feature about her been so thoroughly exploited by a director. As Lucy, she brings to the screen the perfect mix of gawkiness and confidence, naïveté and overwhelming sexuality; she carries the presence of a femme fatale, full of mystery and fascinating to look at, and yet her heart is always planted firmly on her sleeve. She achieves that rare feat of not simply reciting lines, but speaking them; it's a performance so clearly personal and passionate that one might think we were watching a wholly improvisational film.
Yet perhaps the real star of Stealing Beauty is Bernardo Bertolucci. Best known to American audiences for his 1987 epic blockbuster The Last Emperor, Stealing Beauty gave him a chance to go back to his smaller, more intimate roots (previously his best known film was the 1972 soft-core masterpiece Last Tango in Paris) while applying his epic sensibility. He lenses the film in the Cinemascope ratio, but he does not use the frame to capture grand Italian vistas (though several are on display) or masses of people. Instead he frames, in grand style, such tender moments as Lucy's bereavement over the true identity of her first love, or the sun lit walk home from losing her virginity. The film was photographed by Darius Khondji, whose visual sensibility was arguably the most recognizable and influential throughout the late 1990s, and few times in Khondji's career has a director's style worked so beautifully with his images. Much of the action takes place under the golden rays of a burning sun, showcasing a vivid color palette as rich as the fabric of the film itself. Though it takes place in present day, the look of the film lends a distinctly nostalgic overtone to the proceedings, perhaps reminding one of a contemporary, European take on Summer of '42.
When released in the summer of 1996, Stealing Beauty was among the most highly anticipated films of the year for fans of art house cinema. There was a tremendous amount of hype surrounding Liv Tyler's "racy" lead role. It was believed, at the time, that the film could do for her Tyler in the summer of 96 what Clueless had done for Alicia Silverstone in the summer of 1995 (both had rocketed to fame as a homoerotic duo in the Aerosmith video "Crazy"). It was also expected to resuscitate the career of legendary Italian director Bertolucci after the failure of his recent films. Alas, when the film was released it drew mixed reviews and failed to appeal to mainstream filmgoers. Bertolucci's subsequent films were never even released in the United States, and aside from supporting roles in the blockbusters Armageddon and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Tyler never jelled into the movie star the way most industry pundits predicted. Nonetheless, the film remains one of the most extraordinary Italian films of the 1990s. Both Bertolucci and Tyler are in top form here, and the film's unique success as a coming-of-age film despite completely defying the mechanics of the genre is an accomplishment in and of itself. Many of the best Italian films demand that you submit yourself completely to the vision of its director for the movie's duration, putting aside whatever standards or prejudices you have previously held true. Make such a commitment to Stealing Beauty, and the film is a smashingly effective work.
My Grade : A-