Stealing Beauty (1996)

Little Italy

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Stealing Beauty on DVD

One of the younger generation of Italian directors, Bernardo Bertolucci began his career just as Fellini was peaking in the late 60s and early 70s. Unlike many of his countrymen, though, he succumbed to the lure of Hollywood. Once there, found that he could make statements about the mysterious nature of human sexuality like Last Tango in Paris and Besieged. His film Stealing Beauty (1996, 20th Century Fox, $19.98) received mixed reviews at the time, but I find it to be one of his most sublime achievements, filled with a sunny laziness and slow awakening. Liv Tyler stars as a young American woman vacationing in Italy with a group of her late mother's artist friends. She finds it's the perfect atmosphere to fall in love and perhaps experience sex for the first time.

Starring: Liv Tyler, Jeremy Irons, Donal McCann, Sinead Cusack, Ignazio Oliva, Jean Marais, D.W. Moffett, Stefania Sandrelli, Rachel Weisz
Written by: Bernardo Bertolucci, Susan Minot
Directed by: Bernardo Bertolucci
MPAA Rating: R for strong sexuality, nudity, some drug use and language
Running Time: 113 minutes
Date: February 22, 2002