Italian film La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty) cleaned up at this year’s 2013 European Film Awards taking home four awards for best European editor, actor, director and best film. <br /><br />Paolo Sorrentino’s film is a dizzying exploration of hollow contradictions, indifferent beauties and immoral scenes as seen through the indolent, disenchanted eyes of Jep Gambardella – all against the backdrop of a stupefyingly beautiful Rome at the height of summer. <br /><br />A parade of aristocratic ladies, social climbers, politicians, high-flying criminals, journalists, actors, decadent nobles, prelates, artists and intellectuals form the objects of his perspective. <br /><br />Actor Toni Servillo picked up his second trophy as best European actor (his first award came in 2008 for his role in Sorrentino’s film “il Divo”) for playing Jep Gambardella.<br /><br />“I’m very happy. I had never imagined to win this prestigious award and even less to win it twice with Paolo Sorrentino.”<br /><br />German filmmaker and president of the European Film Academy Wim Wenders, was on hand to announce Catherine Deneuve as the recipient of the European Film Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award. <br /><br />The legendary French star was born into a family of actors and has so far featured in over 100 films. <br /><br />Swedish actress Noomi Rapace delightfully announced Pedro Almodovar as the winner of the European Achievement in World Cinema Award. <br /><br />The Spanish director clinched the Best Young Film Award at the inaugural European Film Awards in 1988 for “Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown.” Since then, his films have opened all around the world to great acclaim.
