Stealing Beauty (1996)

53% of critics liked it
(47 reviews)
72% of users liked it
(20,183 ratings)

This beautiful if ponderous soufflé of a film from director Bernardo Bertolucci serves more as an Italian travelogue than a drama. Liv Tyler stars as Lucy Harmon, an American teenager arriving in the lush Tuscan countryside to visit family friends residing there. Lucy visited four years earlier and… More This beautiful if ponderous soufflé of a film from director Bernardo Bertolucci serves more as an Italian travelogue than a drama. Liv Tyler stars as Lucy Harmon, an American teenager arriving in the lush Tuscan countryside to visit family friends residing there. Lucy visited four years earlier and exchanged a kiss with a handsome boy with whom she hopes to become reacquainted. Lucy's mother has committed suicide since then, and the teenager also hopes to discover the identity of her father, whom her mother hinted was a resident of the villa. Once she arrives, Lucy meets a variety of eccentric visitors, including a dying gay playwright (Jeremy Irons), a sculptor (Donal McCann), an entertainment lawyer (D.W. Moffet), and several others. Lucy has decided to lose her virginity and becomes an object of intense interest to the men of the household, but the suitor she finally selects is not the initial object of her affection. Stealing Beauty boasted an intriguing parallel between actress Tyler's role and her real life. The daughter of a famed rock and roll star, she was brought up believing that her father was someone else, a fact that Bertolucci may have had in mind when writing the story. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 58 min.
Directed By: Bernardo Bertolucci
Written By: Susan Minot
Genres: Drama, Romance

In Theaters: Jun 14, 1996 Wide
On DVD: Jan 8, 2002
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Critic Reviews

Desson Thomson, Washington Post
[A] hilariously inscrutable exercise in pseudo-profundity.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
A civilized, mellow, and generally graceful chamber piece.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
[Bertolucci] builds an homage to beauty around a sullen void.
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
In contrasting the sexuality and rebellion of Lucy's generation with his own, Bertolucci clearly yearns to rekindle his creative spirit.
Jack Mathews, Los Angeles Times
Even a lesser Bertolucci is an event, and Stealing Beauty has its charms.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
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.
Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media
Meditation on sex, life, death; older teens only.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Elaborately awful.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
I find it to be one of his most sublime achievements, filled with a sunny laziness and slow awakening.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
A welcome reminder of Bertolucci's directorial assurance.
Chuck O'Leary, Fantastica Daily
Liv Tyler is radiant, but the film itself suffers from the same self-indulgence that always hampers Bertolucci's work.
Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews
The script is in keeping with the fabric of the film. It's languid and meanders about a bit, but, coupled with the lush and inviting Tuscany countryside, this is not a bad thing at all.
Dan Lybarger, Hollywood Bitchslap
Gorgeous Tuscan scenery and a breakthrough performance by Liv Tyler help make this sudsy flick entertaining.
Bill Chambers, Film Freak Central
Auteur-slumming at The WB
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Somewhat erotic and warm, and pleasant to gaze at.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Tim S

Interesting, but not much.
Red L

Liv Tyler plays Lucy who arrives in Tuscany to meet family, be sculpted, find out who her father is and to lose her virginity. Liv is quite beautiful as is the Italian countryside, and coming of age stories are always fun, but this movie is tastefully done.
Michael G

A dull movie with a beautiful landscape.
Lea L

Beautiful story.. the cinematography was amazing.. Bertolucci knows how to make the audience feel like they are part of the story.. Jeremy Irons is brilliant and Liv Tyler gives an amazing,mature performance..
Marcus W

Liv Tyler goes to Italy with the intention of losing her virginity, "finding herself" and discovering who her Dad was in this arthouse gumpf. I think she managed to do all of the above, after an hour I got bored and found better things to do, so it was just on in the… More
Liv Tyler goes to Italy with the intention of losing her virginity, "finding herself" and discovering who her Dad was in this arthouse gumpf. I think she managed to do all of the above, after an hour I got bored and found better things to do, so it was just on in the background.
Daisy M

This film blew me away. The hurt, love and pain expressed in this movie through the most simple way of cinematography is amazing. A classical film of life and death, of love and pain. One of Liv Lylers best acting jobs. I think that this is a film that maybe Americans won't… More
This film blew me away. The hurt, love and pain expressed in this movie through the most simple way of cinematography is amazing. A classical film of life and death, of love and pain. One of Liv Lylers best acting jobs. I think that this is a film that maybe Americans won't really understand. Its very European in the way the individual characters interact. A must see for anyone who demands detail in a film. Its not just a love or romance film. Its about life in its purest form, about peoples imperfections and their desires. It brings out human nature as its over all theme. Liv Tyler as Lucy was beautiful, and Bertolucci used her right. It was basically only her movie, everyone else is minor. Jeremy Irons also acted quite well. Rest of the cast wasn't bad either, except Rachel Weisz. Somehow she didn't quite fit into the whole thing. A must to see !!
Leo L

A personal favorite.