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The Dreamers | Classification: Drama Directed: - Bernardo Bertolucci Actors/Actresses: - Michael Pitt (II) - Eva Green - Louis Garrel CINEMATIC ODE TO YOUTH & THE MOVIES..... Bertolucci's "The Dreamers" is a beautifully photographed, colorful and sensual voyage through a young American's (Michael Pitt) experiences in Paris with an odd brother and sister who befriend him. Set in the late sixties, the backdrop is unrest and student riots in the city. Isabelle (Eva Green) and Theo (Louis Garrel) share a mutual love of film with the initially inhibited Matthew (Pitt) and invite him to stay with them in their parent's house when the folks go away. Immediately, Matthew senses something incestuous between Theo and Isabelle but his infatuation with Isabelle propels him on. They play guessing games about films and have no qualms about nudity and frank sexual horseplay. Matthew (and the viewer) is seduced into their relationship. Many old film clips are featured throughout as they act out and quote favorite lines and scenes from their film sources. The young actors are quite attractive and the sex is explicit. However, I feel much undue hype has been exploited regarding the sexual content and nudity. It's there, it's part of the story---but I found it nowhere near as sensational as I'd read. There are a couple of over-the-top sexual situations (one involving menstrual blood) and the film deserves it's NC-17 rating but to be honest I wasn't as surprised or titillated as I was expecting to be. I found the film to be as much an ode to cinema as well as youthful sexuality. The actors are fine in their roles, the storyline developes plausably and the ending is as expected as it should be. It's a lush, erotic experience and the soundtrack is great with Hendrix, Joplin, etc. evoking sweet memories of a different, exciting era of exploration and change. Certainly not for everyone's taste, but for the non-bashful and adventurous mature viewers it's a challenging and rewarding film. FOR ALL ITS DAZZLE, IT DELIVERS Set against the vibrant background of Paris in the Spring of 1968, The Dreamers tells the story of three young film students, their lives, and, surprise surprise, their dreams. Despite the tumult and ferment taking-place on the streets, the movie's narrative centres around the complicated relationships between brother Theo (Louis Garrel), sister Isabelle (Eva Green) and their newfound American friend Matthew (Michael Pitt). When their English mother (Anna Chancellor) and rich poet father (Robin Renucci) leave them in charge of their comfortable middle-class home, the siblings invite Matthew to stay with them. Sensing a kindred spirit, they involve him in their re-enactments of classic film scripts, and increasingly bizarre mind games. Cocooned in their own little world, they are for the most part oblivious to the social upheaval going-on around them. Police sirens wail outside, whilst inside the self-styled cultural revolutionaries mouth slogans like they've been plucked from the script of a really cool film. The Dreamers blends several distinctive Bertolucci trademarks. The unabashed censor-baiting of Last Tango in Paris meets the sumptuous cinematography seen in Besieged. The sole defining characteristic of "The Dreamers" though is not the political subplots or the cinephile mindset, but the sexual content. Indeed, it is one of the few NC-17 rated films to see a sizable release in the last decade, Bertolucci is no stranger to sexually volatile subjects, and Dreamers returns the director to his blunt focus on the human body. Trouble is, as deeply erotic as the film is, is isn't hot at all. For all its flashy camerawork, often slick scripting and some fine performances, especially Garrel's, it somehow manages to disappoint, because the viewer is left wondering what the point of the exercise is. Maybe the lack of a point is the point, but I really can't be bothered trying to work it out. Perhaps an adventurous rental if you don't mind ambiguous semierotic takes from an Italian moviemaker. Bold, brave and inquisitive Bertolucci displays with this unnecessarily controversial movie more bravery than many other directors half his age. Anyone who is young should see it to observe the contradictions that youth's idealism brings upon the three protagonists. Anyone who is older should watch it to remember the bravery of times gone by, to remember a time when many of us still believed protests could change the world and to acknowledge the validity of both youth's panache and experience's fountain of knowledge. CINEMATIC ODE TO YOUTH Bertolucci's "The Dreamers" is a beautifully photographed, colorful and sensual voyage through a young American's (Michael Pitt) experiences in Paris with an odd brother and sister who befriend him. Set in the late sixties, the backdrop is unrest and student riots in the city. Isabelle (Eva Green) and Theo (Louis Garrel) share a mutual love of film with the initially inhibited Matthew (Pitt) and invite him to stay with them in their parent's house when the folks go away. Immediately, Matthew senses something incestuous between Theo and Isabelle but his infatuation with Isabelle propels him on. They play guessing games about films and have no qualms about nudity and frank sexual horseplay. Matthew (and the viewer) is seduced into their relationship. Many old film clips are featured throughout as they act out and quote favorite lines and scenes from their film sources. The young actors are quite attractive and the sex is explicit. However, I feel much undue hype has been exploited regarding the sexual content and nudity. It's there, it's part of the story---but I found it nowhere near as sensational as I'd read. There are a couple of over-the-top sexual situations (one involving menstrual blood) and the film deserves it's NC-17 rating but to be honest I wasn't as surprised or titillated as I was expecting to be. I found the film to be as much an ode to cinema as well as youthful sexuality. The actors are fine in their roles, the storyline developes plausably and the ending is as expected as it should be. It's a lush, erotic experience and the soundtrack is great with Hendrix, Joplin, etc. evoking sweet memories of a different, exciting era of exploration and change. Certainly not for everyone's taste, but for the non-bashful and adventurous mature viewers it's a challenging and rewarding film. Buy The Dreamers at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  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