Before Paolo Sorrentino‘s Sean Penn-led This Must Be Place premiered at Cannes back in 2011, most believed we’d see it by that respective year’s end, but its divisive reaction led The Weinstein Company to delay it until a quiet debut at the end of 2012. His next feature, however, will be getting a grander bow; as Italy’s Oscar contender, it’s set to arrive in theaters mid-November, and today brings our first U.S. trailer.
We were mostly fans of his new drama, The Great Beauty, when it played at Cannes, saying in our review that the filmmaker has “created a vast tapestry of Italian elitism that is both breathtaking and audacious in its vision; featuring a vast array of characters — including politicians, artists, social climbers, aristocrats, and intellectuals — the wide variety of personalities are, on their own, as fascinating as they are overwhelming.” The first trailer matches up with our take, providing a lavish treat for fans of the filmmaker. Check it out below, along with an international poster.
Journalist Jep Gambardella (the dazzling Toni Servillo) has charmed and seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades. Since the legendary success of his one and only novel, he has been a permanent fixture in the city’s literary and social circles, but when his sixty-fifth birthday coincides with a shock from the past, Jep finds himself unexpectedly taking stock of his life, turning his cutting wit on himself and his contemporaries, and looking past the extravagant nightclubs, parties, and cafés to find Rome in all its glory: a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.
The Great Beauty hits theaters on November 15th.