Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master ListOscar · 1Globe · 1BAFTA · 1
Spoiler-free premise
On his sixty-fifth birthday, Roman writer Jep Gambardella reviews decades of parties, beauty, ambition, friendship, and unfinished work.
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Journalist Jep Gambardella has reigned over Rome's elite nightlife since publishing one acclaimed novel decades earlier. His sixty-fifth birthday and news of a former lover's death prompt encounters with artists, clergy, friends, performers, and memories of first love.
Why it belongs
Paolo Sorrentino makes Rome ecstatic and exhausted through gliding camera movement, sacred art, vulgar parties, music, and Servillo's melancholy Jep.
Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case+
Toni Servillo's elegance carries the fatigue beneath Jep's wit. Rooftop terraces, fountains, ruins, convents, performance art, choral music, pulsing dance tracks, and impossible camera sweeps make beauty both revelation and distraction.
