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The Dreamers (NC-17 Edition) Customer Reviews (70 - 72 of 78 Reviews)

"Dream" On
I have been an admirer of Bernardo Bertolucci's work for quite some time. I have even reviewed many of his films, "The Grim Reaper", "Last Tango In Paris", "Little Buddha", and "The Conformist". There was a time I was completely under his spell, anything he did just seemed to reach at me and not let go. I don't want to say the Bertolucci of late has been terrible, but his works does not seem as daring as it once was. Say what you will about such films as "Besieged", "Stealing Beauty" & "Little Buddha" but to me they lacked something, here though Bertolucci offers us a glimpse of what was. I'm sure many people will draw comparisons to "Last Tango In Paris" when speaking of this film. In fact Bertolucci himself described it as "First Tango In Paris", but there are those you will agree this movie more than anything reminds us of the "French New Wave" and films by Godard and Truffaut.

Jean-Luc Godard once said something along the lines of we say a movie is beautiful because we do not know what else to say. It is the highest compliment we can give it. Well, "The Dreamers" is a beautiful movie. Bertolucci has made a film that celebrates not only his love but our love of cinema. The movie kind of plays off the old cliche ideal lifestyle of the 60s "sex, drugs, and rock n' roll".

"The Dreamers" has an American in Paris, played by Michael Pitt who forms a friend ship with Isabelle (Eva Green) and Theo (Louis Garrel) who happen to be brother and sister. This all takes place in 1968 just in time for the "student revolution". Now before I wrote the movie makes us think of the French new wave, we start thinking of Truffaut's "Jules and Jim" and Godard's "Breathless", and speaking of "Breathless" there is a scene were we see Jean Seberg. There are also movie clips featuring Greta Garbo and John Gilbert from "Queen Christina" and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers from "Top Hat". Jean Pierre Leaud even makes a cameo, and maybe some of us are thinking about "400 Blows". There are also intense movie conversations as Theo and Matthew discuss who was funnier Chaplin or Keaton?

There is no way I could go into detail and describe what takes place in this movie, all I say is if you remember the old Bertolucci and enjoyed those films, "The Dreamers" will please you. It is the first movie I've seen in 04 and already I can call it a masterpiece.

I also want to make a comment on the ridiculous NC-17 rating. First of all when most people hear a movie is rated NC-17 they immediately think it's going to be some trashy porno, this is not true and secondly, there is nothing here that Bertolucci has not done before and his films were rated R. I remember there being male frontal nudity in "The Sheltering Sky", I think there was in "1900", the fact that this movie is rated NC-17 to me has no justification whatsoever!

Bottom-line: A movie that brings back the Bertolucci of old. It's more daring then his previous films. This is a movie that is really for film lovers to watch not the casual viewer. A masterpiece.

An Incisive Criticism of the '60s and Hypocrisy
The Dreamers is a new, primarily English-language film from the Italian king of cinematic controversy, Bernardo Bertolucci. If you've seen his past works, including 1900 and Last Tango in Paris, they provide a fairly clear idea of what to expect in this NC-17 foray into 1960's youth culture in France. The film is an extended analysis, really, of radicalism and some of the hypocrisies seemingly inherent in it. It forces us to confront the question of what truly is revolutionary, or conservative for that matter. The film answers that question in a way many of us will find unexpected.

Matthew (Michael Pitt) is an American student spending time abroad in France. He takes in the student protests with wide eyes, gazing in awe at the pure passion igniting these young people. Though the period is the '60s, Matthew still reflects the tucked-in conservatism of a decade past, wearing a jacket and tie almost as a shield from the craziness surrounding him. He soon meets two French siblings, Isabelle and Theo (Eva Green and Louis Garrel), both of whom are full of the revolutionary spirit. They are new and therefore attractive to Matthew, who shares a mutual love of movies with both. Not long after, he moves into the home of his two new friends, whose parents have gone away on an extended trip.

Now is the time audience members may begin to squirm. In between quoting movies to one another and acting out favorite scenes, Matthew begins to notice an unnaturally clingy relationship exists between Isa and Theo--they sleep and bathe together, and play sexually-laced games that often leave one in some state of undress. But this quasi-incest has a strange effect on Matthew, as slowly, the jacket and tie disappear, he begins to walk around barely dressed, and he starts to take part in the sex games, at first begrudgingly and then yearningly.

But as intoxicated as Matthew becomes with the lifestyle, he also is disturbed when Isa confides in him that she's never been on a date before. Harboring some genuine feelings for the young beauty, Matthew tries to lead her away from a life entirely dependent upon Theo and toward one of independence. In this way, the film draws a very interesting parallel. It really is conservatism--a resistance to change--that is keeping so-called radicals Isa and Theo in their exclusive relationship. The young innocent, Matthew, has become the revolutionary in trying to shatter what has become the comfortable tradition.

The film boasts three good, but not great performances. With stronger leading work, a good film could possibly have reached the next level. Gilbert Adair's screenplay, based on his own novel, is wonderfully subtle in weaving its critique of the radical movement, but is in fact so subtle that in some ways the film feels "small." Nevertheless, the film raises probing questions, particularly in the last scene, as a throng of protesters march down a street, all chanting in unison, not a single one distinguishable from the next. It begs the old question, "If a group of anarchists organize an anarchists' meeting, are they really anarchists anymore?"

Finally, credit must be heaped upon Fox Searchlight for not yielding to any suggestion that Bertolucci's vision be compromised by editing the film to achieve an R rating. Even without such censorship, it is disturbing enough that film footage of bare genitals and some sex is considered more damaging by the MPAA than, for example, the wholesale slaughter of recent horror offerings. In any case, when going to see The Dreamers, leave any prudish tendencies (or family members) at home.

Final Grade: B

great movie
I saw a midnight showing of this film in Providence while I was at Brown, and I'm very lucky because I probably never would have heard of it had I not been there for the weekend. (...)
The film takes place during Vietnam and a big ban on the arts, causing Pitt and the twins to have constant arguements about these issues. Some very interesting points are brought up, and the three characters all learn about different sides of themselves. Throughout the movie, they learn about eachother's thoughts, (...), opiions, etc. It's a very interesting and well done film and I highly reccomend it to any cinema fan.

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