Stealing Beauty

I think I saw this film at a film festival when it was newly released (or prior to release) and seem to recall a scene that was missing when I watched it again recently.

Remember when they all go over to that grand villa for the evenings party and the artist guy stays home to carve away at his tree stump with the chainsaw. I remember him sanding more and creating this lovely (and suggestive!) hole in it that later when his wife returns home and finds him caressing the hole suggestively and the two of them then make love. This time when I watch the film it just cuts to the place where she leans against the wall and hikes up her dress above the knee (what the hell is that all about?). The original was one of my favorite parts because of how that scene was enhanced with the music soundtrack... but now it's gone! So my question is: Am I right or dreaming? Anybody else remember this?

Liv Tyler's first leading role was in a movie about a girl who, after mother's death, travels to Italy, to the property of mother's friends, in search of father and her own identity. After great movies such as "Ultimo tango a Parigi" and "The Last Emperor", not to mention the later masterpiece "The Dreamers", I expected much more from Bertolucci than the coming-of-age drama about a nineteen-year-old virgin, which brings nothing in terms of storytelling and plot, nor does it stand out as a study of personalities. However, "Stealing Beauty" has one indisputable quality. The film is visually excellent, and a perfect choice if you want to relax, rest your mind and feast your eyes on the beautiful landscapes of Tuscany.

6,5/10.

The first twenty minutes of this movie had me riveted. The Italian landscape was incredible and upon meeting all the diverse characters, one would think this was the perfect stage for a fine film.

But it wasn't.

Lucy's search for her father is first pushed on the back burner then brought miraculously to life near the end of the movie. Meanwhile the plot involves the entire house buzzing like old maids about the poor girl's virginity, as if the topic were front page news. But then again Jeremy Irons character said it best: "Up here on this hill, the only thing we have to talk about is each other". Hm, maybe so, but the idea quickly becomes dull.

Instead of becoming interested in Lucy, the only scenes I found enjoyable involved Miranda and her dim-witted "boyfriend". Richard made me laugh so much that I nearly forgave the pointless plot. And I would've been very disappointed were it not for Jeremy Irons and his wonderful character of Alex. Alex's musing, thoughts and expressions made me smile and made me think. (" 'The incredible frivolity of the dying' You have to allow me a little frivolity")

As far as what Lucy sees in Nicholo or what made her take the plunge with someone she barely knew, baffles me. Take the beautiful cinemetography, interesting characters and mold them in an entirely different way and you've got yourself a much better movie than what was presented. Such potential..wasted *sigh*

The poetic tale of a girl trapped in her past which keeps her unavailable and sexually closed, and a study of the increasing urges and temptations that she feels pressuring her. Or: the story of who will have sex with a beautiful virgin first. It's a guessing game for the viewer: which one of the many male characters will deflower the Tyler girl? I'm sure Bertolucci sees this in a different light but then again he is a pretentious European director who would summarize the plot in a far more philosophical manner, looking at it from angles that don't exist. This is, after all, the same "genius" who made the ridiculously long, extreme-left-wing "1900", in an attempt to create movie history. (I suppose Depardieu and De Niro getting simultaneously masturbated by a prostitute is what everyone always wanted to see. Real art.) The camera-work, though it captures Tyler's good looks well, makes me suspect that either Bertolucci or the cameraman had lusted after her during the filming; sometimes the camera is so close to her it almost touches her. Rather plot less, but watchable. The dialogues strive for something powerful and meaningful and something... oh, je ne sais pas quoi I should call it - when in fact the dialogue is actually quite unremarkable and sometimes bordering on total malarkey. Anyone who takes this film too seriously is just as hopelessly naïve as Bertolucci hopes the viewer to be.

While this is not my favorite Bertolucci film, Stealing Beauty left me inspired and contented. Bertolucci's brush strokes are wide, yet meticulously placed, leading us down a sensual and beautiful path of discovery. He packs a lot of plot into a week of story and two hours of film, but it is believable because many extraordinary things can happen in a short time frame when one travels abroad. Liv Tyler did well, reminding me of my teenage years, yearning yet still undecided. This movie has one of the best (sexy!) loss of virginity scenes in recent memory.