THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 15, 1996 TAG: 9607130043
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: 50 lines
``STEALING BEAUTY'' is likely to go down in film history as no more than the movie that introduced Liv Tyler.
The 19-year-old discovery is a throwback to the time when movies, as Norma Desmond of ``Sunset Boulevard'' would say, had ``faces.'' Tyler has the kind of charisma and screen presence that makes us believe that ``movie stars'' may yet exist.
The film itself, directed by no less an artiste than Bernardo Bertolucci, may be a bit vapid, but it covers itself in lyrical sexuality. Filmed in the glorious Tuscany hillsides, near Siena in Italy, it is a glorious experience that, although perhaps not signifying much, is an exotic and passionate journey - while it lasts. Depending on your romantic point of view, it could be an arty film or almost a spoof of arty films.
Lucy Harmon, a 19-year-old American, returns to the girlhood home of her mother in Italy. She has two goals: To lose her virginity during the summer of escape and to learn the identity of her real father.
The community she finds in Tuscany is a bunch of over-the-hill intellectuals who pretend to be great artists but are mostly floating.
Jeremy Irons (taking time out from the voice of Scar and winning Oscars) plays an artist who is terminally ill. Donal McCann, the Irish actor, plays a passionate old sculptor who plans to sculpt Miss Lucy. Sinead Cusack is the resident wife.
There is some fleeting suspense about which male will become the lucky guy to win Lucy, but, for the most part, there is wandering and scenery, complete with a pop score permeated by Mozart.
Bertolucci, whose ``The Last Emperor'' won nine Oscars, hit it lucky when he found Tyler (the daughter of Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler). She is a lanky, gawky and yet exquisitely elegant creature who has the almond eyes of Ava Gardner coupled with some of the piquant qualities of Audrey Hepburn. She is fascinating to watch, and better than the film itself.
Bertolucci, filming in Italy for the first time in 18 years, has created a lyrical film with a nearly hypnotic flow. The package doesn't have much substance, but the wrapping is exquisite. ILLUSTRATION: MOVIE REVIEW
``Stealing Beauty''
Cast: Liv Tyler, Jeremy Irons, Sinead Cusack, Donal McCann
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
MPAA rating: R (sexuality, some language)
Mal's rating: three stars
Location: Naro in Norfolk by CNB