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...In sharp contrast to the unhappiness of the wealthy, the few and fragmentary working or lower middle class characters in the film are presented as almost uniformly harmonious, apparently because, thanks to their relative poverty, they have the ability to appreciate the “simple pleasures” in life. Thus Jep Gambardella’s (Latin American?) maid is really nothing else than a version of Mammy in Gone With the Wind. And when Gambardella, for plot reasons I won’t go into here, makes a brief visit to the Spartan home of an elderly couple, and asks them what their plans are for the night, the man answers – in a tone of voice indicating that he has seen the light – that his wife will finish her ironing, then they will have a glass of wine and watch some television. Hallelujah, how blessed is the simplicity of the poor! Ultimately The Great Beauty confirms what has been apparent already in the director’s earlier films (not least in Il Divo) – that Paolo Sorrentino, the Neapolitan son of a banker, is as blinkered as his characters. He cannot see outside of his class, cannot understand it in relation to other classes... http://filmint.nu/?p=11461 ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
