The film features an international ensemble cast and was a significant milestone in career as her first leading role.
Upon its 1996 release, Stealing Beauty divided critics. Some dismissed it as a vacuous postcard—a “luxury commercial for Tuscany,” as one reviewer sneered. Others, like Roger Ebert, championed its unhurried, non-judgmental gaze. The film was a moderate box office success in Europe but a minor arthouse curiosity in the US. Stealing.Beauty.1996.-Bernardo.Bertolucci-.1080...
Lucy Harmon arrives in the Tuscan countryside carrying a diary, a pack of Marlboros, and a secret. She is there to sit for a sculptor friend of her late mother, but her true mission is to find the anonymous lover with whom her mother shared a legendary affair—the man who may be Lucy’s biological father. The film features an international ensemble cast and
In (typically released via the Criterion Collection or European imports), the film breathes. She is there to sit for a sculptor
The film's title, "Stealing Beauty", is itself a reference to the idea that beauty is something that can be taken or stolen. This theme is echoed throughout the film, as characters navigate the complexities of beauty, both inner and outer.