Friday 16 December 2005

The Dreamers (2003)

Apart from "1900", I have never been much of a fan of Bernardo Bertolucci (although I think "The Conformist" is pretty good).  His last few films come across like a dirty old man's daydream (to use the politer term) and seem to lust after nubile young flesh.  This movie set in Paris during the 1968 riots tells of a young American student who becomes friendly with brother and sister twins (their mother is English, hence their command of the language for the film is in English).  It was their mutual love of movies that brought them together and this part of the proceedings was obviously to my taste, but the story degenerated into a kind of love-in when the American moved in with them while their parents were away.  I actually found all three of them on the unattractive side and taking off their clothes (which was frequent) made them no more attractive to me.  I think the young French actress was chosen primarily for her figure -- an enormous pair of boobs on a skinny frame -- which the camera made love to as well.  It was all too self-indulgent for words.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Maybe this is where you see the difference between inside and outside beauty.

Having just read this, it makes me think that maybe this film is actually a short story made into a film. It certainly feels like a snapshot into a few weeks over the lead character's life, as he experiences things for the first time, and the tent scene (you're so urging those parents to come back - you know they will) and the riots which move them all along into another chapter of their lives. It is interesting to see how his character builds and changes. The nakedness is just a background to their thinking (thought motivation?) at the time, maybe a reflection of the freedom they feel, and that is after all what the film is about - freedom of thought, hence the title......    maybe.....    dreaming themselves into a new existence for the space of a film, a space which they will never truly inhabit, except for this moment in time.....