Italian Film: The Great Beauty

Join us for the Fall 2025 Italian Film Series, “Film Festival Favorites,” sponsored by Dante Alighieri Society of Santa Cruz.

This fall’s series showcases works that have captivated film festival audiences worldwide, winning major awards for their portrayals of Italian and Italian-American life. These films richly evoke distinct times and places, from an Alpine village at the end of World War II to the Roman party scene, and from California’s banks to the global stage. Together they celebrate the many ways that Italian culture endures and evolves across time and borders.

The third film in the series is: The Great Beauty, Directed by Paolo Sorrentino. 2013. 142 minutes

For decades, journalist Jep Gambardella has charmed and seduced his way through the glittering nightlife of Rome. Since the legendary success of his only novel, he has been a permanent fixture in the city’s literary and elite social circles. But on his sixty-fifth birthday, Jep unexpectedly finds himself taking stock of his life, turning his cutting wit on himself and his contemporaries, and looking past the lavish nightclubs, parties, and cafés to find Rome itself, in all its monumental glory: a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty. Featuring sensuous cinematography, a lush score, and an award-winning central performance by the great Toni Servillo, this transporting experience by Italian director Paolo Sorrentino is a breathtaking tale of decadence and lost love.

Winner of major international honors, including the David di Donatello for Best Film, the Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA for Best Foreign Language Film, and global awards for Toni Servillo’s performance as lead actor.

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All films in Italian with English subtitles.

no tickets required, although seating is limited; first come, first served

cash donations welcome at the door

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Host or Publisher Dante Alighieri Society of Santa Cruz County