If you manage to turn off your brain a little and scoff at the director’s delusions of grandeur, Diamanti is a feast.

The film runs for 135 minutes, but the script is so breathless it never feels draggy and Özpetek gets excellent results with his stacked cast.

The irony of Diamonds is that this solid ensemble story is undercut by its framing device.

A glam, plush wallow of a self-conscious “crowdpleaser,” laughter ’n’ tears arriving on cue, with Ozpetek gratuitously surfacing from time to time just to beam onscreen at his own fictive creation.