The grace, craft and real wit in this country house party make it his most seductive film in a very long while.
Stealing Beauty (1996)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:47
Fresh:24
Rotten:23
Average Rating:5.8/10
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: When 19-year-old Lucy Harmon (Liv Tyler) arrives in Tuscany, wondering about her mother (a recent suicide) and still nursing a crush on Niccolo, the local playboy she met on a visit four years... When 19-year-old Lucy Harmon (Liv Tyler) arrives in Tuscany, wondering about her mother (a recent suicide) and still nursing a crush on Niccolo, the local playboy she met on a visit four years earlier, everyone sits up and takes notice--especially director Bernardo Bertolucci, who trains his camera on the ingenue with understandable enthusiasm. The Graysons, who own the artists' colony and villa where Lucy's mother once wrote poetry, take the young girl in, and their guests enjoy the infusion of youth. Perhaps most deeply affected is Alex Parrish (Jeremy Irons), a terminally ill writer who finds Lucy charming and vital. Before such attentions, Lucy's interest in Niccolo (who turns out to be a jerk) quickly fades, replaced by an unexpected mystery regarding the identity of her father and a possible new love. And in a further attempt to understand her mother, Lucy writes light little poems as well. (Bertolucci has her words appear on the screen as she scribbles.) In fact, everything seems light in lush and lovely in Tuscany, which provides a gorgeous setting for the gifted ensemble to play out their intrigues. [More]
Starring: Liv Tyler, Jeremy Irons, Donal McCann, Stefania Sandrelli
Starring: Liv Tyler, Jeremy Irons, Donal McCann, Stefania Sandrelli, Jean Marais, Francesco Siciliano, Sinead Cusack, D.W. Moffett, Rachel Weisz
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Screenwriter: Susan Minot
Story: Bernardo Bertolucci
Producer: Jeremy Thomas
Composer: Richard Hartley
Reviews for Stealing Beauty
In my view, Bernardo Bertolucci is one of the world’s most overrated high profile filmmakers.
Bertolucci returns to his native Italian soil for the first time in 15 years, and the result is a gorgeous albeit fairly insubstantial homecoming.
The movie plays like the kind of line a rich older guy would lay on a teenage model, suppressing his own intelligence and irony in order to spread out before her the wonderful world he would like to give her as a gift.
I find it to be one of his most sublime achievements, filled with a sunny laziness and slow awakening.
The result is more tedious than insightful, and the film just meekly limps along, without any wit, passion or fire.
Liv Tyler is radiant, but the film itself suffers from the same self-indulgence that always hampers Bertolucci's work.
You can keep Liv Tyler as an actress altogether as far as I'm concerned.
Gorgeous Tuscan scenery and a breakthrough performance by Liv Tyler help make this sudsy flick entertaining.
More DVDs
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 86% 86% | A Christmas Tale |
| 60% 60% | Paper Heart |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Around The Network
- Stealing Beauty at Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh Links
Featured

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.



Top Critic

