One of my favourite films is La Grande Bellezza, even if it portrays haute bourgeois life in Rome beyond the reach of most of us. This is a valid criticism of the film and the director, who is not known for being particularly progressive. Any yet, imagine for a moment if you could live off a sizeable income, the kind of life mostly found in depictions of 19th century aristocrats. Imagine if you were given the complete freedom from material necessity to pursue the things life is supposed to be about. No more alibis for delaying and no more material constraints holding you back from the labour of self-actualisation.This is the state of most of the characters in the film. Sorrentino’s view is that even these elites, and not mere elites financially, but those few who manage to get to that economic position their due to luck and skill as writers or artists, are pathetic humans. Their desires, insecurities and longings are profoundly pathetic. This film makes a speculative proposal, it asks, what would you do with freedom once you aren’t struggling with necessity?