La Grande Bellezza: Golden Globe winner for Best Foreign Film!
Paolo Sorrentino did it, with Toni Servillo and Carlo Verdone’s help; he made a movie that made the world sit up and take notice. The Great Beauty’s win is important for those of us that love Italian cinema.
For the past dozen or so years when I’ve told people here in the US that I love Italian movies, I’ve almost always heard the same thing: “Me too! I love La Dolce Vita and Il Postino.”
I always smile, nod, and say “me too”, but inside I am frustrated. First of all, I am not a huge fan of Fellini. I don’t hate La Dolce Vita, but I am over it. And I actually think it’s a little silly.
Il Postino? Sure, it’s great. But I honestly think that there are dozens of films that have come since that are far more interesting, but have never gotten the recognition. Americans in particular have not been given the opportunity to see the innovative and creative new Italian directors and actors and why? I think we have gotten too lazy to watch subtitles or something.
People got so used to hearing that the Italian film industry was dead that nobody noticed its rebirth. Some will see this as “overnight success”, an anomaly, a good Italian film that came out of nowhere. There will be those who say that Sorrentino’s win is a surprise, that they’d expected Blue is the Warmest Color to come away with the prize.
But those of us that have been paying attention, we saw this coming a mile away. We know the good work that Sorrentino, Toni Servillo, and Carlo Verdone have been doing for years. We knew that La Grande Bellezza was a winner the minute we saw the trailer.
On to the Oscars; Sorrentino can and should win for Best Foreign Film. New York Times Film Critic Mahnola Dargis even put it on a list of films that should be considered for Best overall film, and Servillo as best actor. The short list will be announced on the 16th so let’s all keep our collective fingers crossed.
I Love Italian Everything 