The Dreamers
d. Bernardo Bertolucci, 2003
Bernardo Bertolucci, the director of Last Tango in Paris, revisited the events of May '68 with his 2003 film The Dreamers. The first time I saw it, I was rather enchanted by it. What cinephile could resist a movie that contains so many movie references? Everything from Tod Browning's Freaks to Jean-Luc Godard's Band of Outsiders is mentioned in the film (for a purpose), and the soundtrack (Hendrix's "Hey Joe," The Doors' "The Spy," Bob Dylan's "Queen Jane Approximately" among others) is equally charming. However, subsequent viewings made me see the faults of the film, most notably the obvious romanticizing of the era, the lack of focus on Theo's (Louis Garrel) sexuality when Isabelle's (Eva Green) and Matthew's (Michael Pitt) are so thoroughly explored. Oh yeah, the film is about an American student, Matthew, who meets twins Isabella and Theo in Paris. They all love movies and they invite him to stay at their apartment for a month since their parents will be out of town. Trouble ensues. The one thing that doesn't wear off about The Dreamers is the knowledge that Bertolucci is one of the great painters of modern cinema. The scenes in the film are so delicately composed that it makes me want to forget the problems I had with the film. Nonetheless, problems there are. Oh, but what a lovely film this could have been.
P.S. Louis Garrel's father, experimental filmmaker Philippe Garrel made a film about the events of May '68 (as a response to Bertolucci's film) called The Regular Lovers. It has not screened in Houston but I hope to watch it in the near future.
