The Great Beauty

Rome. In the splendor of summer, tourists flock to the Janiculum Hill, where a Japanese man collapses as he is felled by such beauty. Jep Gambardella, a handsome man with irresistible charm, tries to enjoy his social life – despite showing the first signs of aging. He attends chic dinners and parties where his sparkling wit and pleasant company are always welcome. A successful journalist and inveterate seducer, Jep had written a novel in his youth which earned him a literary award and a reputation as a frustrated writer. He masks his disenchantment behind a cynical attitude and views the world with bitter lucidity. On the terrace of his Rome apartment, which overlooks the Coliseum, he hosts parties where “the human apparatus” – that was the title of his novel – is stripped bare and where the comedy of nothingness gets played out. Weary of his lifestyle, Jep sometimes dreams of taking up his pen again, haunted by memories of a youthful love to which he still hangs on. But will he ever manage it? Can he overcome this profound disgust for himself and others in a city whose dazzling beauty sometimes leads to paralysis?