Stealing Beauty (1996)
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53% of critics liked it
(47 reviews) -
71% of users liked it
(20,481 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
- Directed By
- Bernardo Bertolucci
- Written By
- Susan Minot
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
R,
- In Theaters
- Jun 14, 1996 Wide
- On DVD
- Jan 8, 2002
- Studio
- Fox Searchlight Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Desson Thomson, Washington Post
[A] hilariously inscrutable exercise in pseudo-profundity.
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
A civilized, mellow, and generally graceful chamber piece.
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
A welcome reminder of Bertolucci's directorial assurance.
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Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
[Bertolucci] builds an homage to beauty around a sullen void.
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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.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Liv Tyler
as Lucy Harmon
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Sinead Cusack
as Diana Grayson
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Donal McCann
as Ian Grayson
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Jeremy Irons
as Alex Parrish
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Jean Marais
as M. Guillaume
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Rachel Weisz
as Miranda Fox
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Carlo Cecchi
as Carlo Lisca
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Anna-Maria Gherardi
as Chiarella Donati
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D.W. Moffett
as Richard Reed
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Stefania Sandrelli
as Noemi
- Leonardo Treviglio
- Jason Flemyng
- Ignazio Oliva
- Francesco Siciliano
- Roberto Zibetti
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Alessandra Vanzi
as Marta
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Joseph Fiennes
as Christopher Fox
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Mary Jo Sorgani
as Maria
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Rebecca Valpy
as Daisy Grayson
