KinoCult presents: Stealing Beauty (1996) by Bernardo Bertolucci.

September 13 at 6:00 PM at Lumiere cinema.

After fifteen years of filming outside Italy, Bernardo Bertolucci returns to his homeland with "Stealing Beauty." His previous films are the large-scale international productions "The Last Emperor," "The Sheltering Sky," and "Little Buddha";
But this time the director seeks not a historical epic, but a more intimate story centered around a Tuscan villa and the people who spend the summer there. Variety describes the film as his return to Italy after the "exotic epic trilogy," while Jonathan Rosenbaum characterizes it as a soft and exquisite chamber piece.

Nineteen-year-old Lucy arrives in Tuscany after her mother's death. The official reason is for a sculptor to make her portrait, but she brings with her two much more personal questions: who is her biological father and what happened to the boy with whom she exchanged letters after her first kiss.

Among artists, writers, old friends, and long-suppressed stories, Lucy's presence gradually stirs the entire closed world of the villa.

"Every artist needs a muse," Bertolucci says during the premiere. "In my new film, the muse is Liv Tyler. But it could also be the beauty of Tuscany." 

In Tyler, the director sees not just an actress for the role, but that rare presence that can change what has been written. She is only eighteen during filming, and "Stealing Beauty" becomes her first major leading role.

The film was shot entirely in Tuscany during the summer of 1995, mainly around the Castello di Brolio estate in Chianti. The cinematographer is Darius Khondji - just after "Seven," and the musical environment features Portishead, Mazzy Star, Cocteau Twins, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Stevie Wonder, and John Lee Hooker. 

We watch a film in which the landscape, music, and youth exist in the same brief summer.

"Stealing Beauty" was presented in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 1996.

director: Bernardo Bertolucci
screenplay: Susan Minot, Bernardo Bertolucci
starring: Liv Tyler, Jeremy Irons, Sinéad Cusack, Donald McCann, Stefania Sandrelli, Jean Marais, Rachel Weisz, Joseph Fiennes, Jason Fleming
cinematographer: Darius Khondji
editing: Pietro Scalia
production design: Gianni Silvestri
music: Richard Hartley
runtime: 118 min