Stealing Beauty

  • Review Date: October 30, 2005
  • R
  • Genre: Drama
  • 1996
 Review

Common Sense Media says

Meditation on sex, life, death; older teens only.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

Not yet rated

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that on the most superficial level, the movie's plot revolves a girl losing her virginity. Lots of sex is shown on screen (without nudity), and there's a skinny dipping scene. Characters drink and smoke marijuana and cigarettes. For families who are comfortable discussing sex and relationships, this moving can be a good one to watch with teen girls who are on the cusp of sexual freedom, since it begs the question of what attracts people to each other.

  • Some characters are callous, others, clueless. Honest look at human foibles.
  • Not applicable.
  • Losing virginity is the theme of the movie, explicit sex shown

What's the story?

In STEALING BEAUTY, teenager Lucy Harmon (Liv Tyler) is spending a summer in a Tuscan artists' colony and is intent on losing her virginity. Who will be the one? Alex Barnes (Jeremy Irons), a dying writer? Carlo Lisca (Carlo Cecchi), an enigmatic ex-paramour of Lucy's mother? Old family friend Christopher, who gave Lucy her first kiss on her last visit to Italy? Much of the film is devoted to setting up various candidates and then dismissing them. Lucy herself is a cipher. The camera bathes her with love, point-blank goggling at her as she pouts, and smokes, and dances, and loafs around the colony.


Is it any good?

 

Liv Tyler is easily as beautiful as the movie's title advertises, fresh and glowing as a hyacinth. In sharp contrast to Lucy, is Alex who is dying of cancer. The friendship between a girl in the blossom of her youth and the writer who borrows her beauty for his pleasure during his last days is both poignant and mature. Rounding out the themes is Lucy's search for the man who actually sired her -- also one of several candidates.

Parents should know that Stealing Beauty is intended for adults (or the most mature of children) only.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about the way that some people use sex to gain affection or power. Families can also talk about the importance that has traditionally been attached to virginity, and about how losing that virginity changes a person's life. Why is Lucy so adament about losing her virginity? A discussion of sexual morality might definitely be in order, as might one about the ways that drugs and alcohol can lower inhibitions and make a person behave badly whilst under the influence. How is this reflected in the film?


This review was written by Joyce Slaton
Adult
November 5, 2010
 
Stealing Beauty
Stealing Beauty is an example of a movie that wouldn't harm a teenager of any age if they say it. But that probably most teenagers wouldn't understand the deeper implications of. Yes the movie has nudity, it has sex, it has drug use, language, and even less than perfect people, but it does have some very pointed things to say about how people grow up and how they come to encased into the lives that they build for themselves. As for the main concern of the movie's central protagonist played by Liv Tyler it is losing her virginity. It's handled with a certain amount of leering grace but after all the movie is by Bernardo Bertolucci the infamous filmmaker behind Last Tango in Paris, so it isn't all that surprising. The movie would be a good starting point for some parents to talk about sex with their son or daughter as the finale has a really tender and loving sex scene while Lucy loses her virginity. The scene is bound to go against the standards that most teenagers have seen or assumed about sex and real passes the act off in a realistic light. The characters fumble over things like positions and getting their clothes situated. It's quite a beautiful scene and one that I wish more filmmakers would try to emulate if they insist on having love scenes in their movies. In the end the movie is very humane towards it's characters and very respectful of them. Teenagers could do much worse than see this movie.

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This review was written by Joyce Slaton
Studio:Columbia Tristar
Director:Bernardo Bertolucci
Cast:Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes, Liv Tyler
Genre:Drama
Run time:119 minutes
Theatrical release date:June 14, 1996
DVD release date:January 8, 2002
MPAA rating:R
MPAA explanation:sexuality, nudity, some drug use and language

This review was written by Joyce Slaton
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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