The Dreamers
3.5/4
Starring: Michael Pitt, Eva Green, Louis Garrel
Rated NC-17 for Explicit Sexual Content
"The Dreamers" is alive in a way that few movies are. It is in love with movies, ideas and its characters. It radiates vitality and energy from every frame. So few movies have their own identity that it is rare that there is a movie that is built from one. It is the cinematic version of being a college student.
I'm not talking about "Animal House" or anything. "The Dreamers" has higher aspirations than that. Its characters thirst for knowledge and ideals, although they don't necessarily know what to do with them.
The year is 1968. Matthew (Pitt) is an American student studying French in Paris. Like many young people at the time, he is obsessed with movies (compare that to today, where people see move theaters as a way to text with their friends and go gaga over the latest teen star or superhero flick. During some of the pro-cinema riots, Matthew meets twins Theo (Garrel) and Isabelle (Green). After a few days meeting, they invite him to live with them while their parents are away on vacation. With three characters in their 20's in one place, sex is bound to enter into the picture (if the NC-17 rating wasn't a dead giveaway already). That's when Matthew realizes how close Theo and Isabelle are, and they are willing to bring him into the fold.
For all the energy and life that "The Dreamers" has, it remains hard to classify into a genre. That's because there really isn't much of a plot. It's a slice of life drama, I suppose, although it has a beginning, middle and end. But the film doesn't have much of a clear focus of what it wants to say.
That's not really much of a problem, however. The film is consistently engaging and the characters are well acted, if not precisely defined. The film also looks fantastic. More than anything, it has a sense of place. Paris in 1968 comes alive through Bertolucci's camera.
The performances by the three leads are excellent. That's a good thing, since the whole film rests almost entirely on their shoulders (Theo and Isabelle's parents show up at the beginning and the end, and there are a few minor speaking roles, but none stay around more than a minute or two).
Michael Pitt is terrific as the naiive but intelligent Matthew. There are times when Pitt, who usually plays psychos ("Murder by Numbers" and Michael Haneke's American version of his own film, "Funny Games"), resembles Leonardo DiCaprio (although that may be because I read that DiCaprio was offered the role but had to turn it down due to his commitments with "The Aviator"). At first, he finds the relationship with Theo and Isabelle to be liberating. It is rare to find people you truly connect with, especially in a foreign land (Bertolucci doesn't dwell much on Matthew's isolation, but it doesn't really matter because that's not on his agenda), and that, plus their free-spirited ways, attracts him to them. But he's strong enough to wake up when things go too far.
As the twins, Eva Green and Louis Garrel are on equal footing with Pitt. Green has always been a great actress, be it as a twisted teacher ("Cracks") or a sexy femme fatale ("Casino Royale"). This was her film debut, and it's a great one. There isn't a hint of artifice in Green's performance as the lively, hyper-sexual Isabelle. Her attachment to Theo is unsettling, but Bertolucci takes a relatively non-judgmental view of it, and Green successfully navigates that tightrope. Louis Garrel doesn't stand out as much as Pitt or Green, but that's okay. Theo is more reactive usually, and Garrel draws our attention to Theo without being too ostentatious (except for when the occasion calls for it).
Bernardo Bertolucci, who directed "The Last Emperor" (which I didn't like as much as everyone else), directs this with knowledge and love. He gets the minute details right which gives the film its energy and identity. He also directs this with a love of film; anyone who watches this movie will log onto Netflix and put some classic movies into their queue. While some of the plot points are a little fuzzy and the meaning of the ending isn't as clear as one would hope, it's still compelling cinema.
Like with all NC-17 movies, it's impossible talk about the film without discussing its rating. As open and appreciative of sex and naked beauty in cinema as I am, this is one of the few times where I agree with the NC-17 rating that the MPAA slapped it with (remember that, dear readers, because I guarantee I'm not going to say that again for a long, long time). There is some pretty graphic stuff here, and some scenes are pretty hot. It's not pornographic because it is used to tell a story (that being said, for those filmmakers who wish to marry hot sex with storytelling, this is a good how-to guide). It's necessary to the plot and Bertolucci captures its beauty rather than inserting it in for shock.
"The Dreamers" is a must see for anyone who wants a nostalgia trip or loves movies.
Starring: Michael Pitt, Eva Green, Louis Garrel
Rated NC-17 for Explicit Sexual Content
"The Dreamers" is alive in a way that few movies are. It is in love with movies, ideas and its characters. It radiates vitality and energy from every frame. So few movies have their own identity that it is rare that there is a movie that is built from one. It is the cinematic version of being a college student.
I'm not talking about "Animal House" or anything. "The Dreamers" has higher aspirations than that. Its characters thirst for knowledge and ideals, although they don't necessarily know what to do with them.
The year is 1968. Matthew (Pitt) is an American student studying French in Paris. Like many young people at the time, he is obsessed with movies (compare that to today, where people see move theaters as a way to text with their friends and go gaga over the latest teen star or superhero flick. During some of the pro-cinema riots, Matthew meets twins Theo (Garrel) and Isabelle (Green). After a few days meeting, they invite him to live with them while their parents are away on vacation. With three characters in their 20's in one place, sex is bound to enter into the picture (if the NC-17 rating wasn't a dead giveaway already). That's when Matthew realizes how close Theo and Isabelle are, and they are willing to bring him into the fold.
For all the energy and life that "The Dreamers" has, it remains hard to classify into a genre. That's because there really isn't much of a plot. It's a slice of life drama, I suppose, although it has a beginning, middle and end. But the film doesn't have much of a clear focus of what it wants to say.
That's not really much of a problem, however. The film is consistently engaging and the characters are well acted, if not precisely defined. The film also looks fantastic. More than anything, it has a sense of place. Paris in 1968 comes alive through Bertolucci's camera.
The performances by the three leads are excellent. That's a good thing, since the whole film rests almost entirely on their shoulders (Theo and Isabelle's parents show up at the beginning and the end, and there are a few minor speaking roles, but none stay around more than a minute or two).
Michael Pitt is terrific as the naiive but intelligent Matthew. There are times when Pitt, who usually plays psychos ("Murder by Numbers" and Michael Haneke's American version of his own film, "Funny Games"), resembles Leonardo DiCaprio (although that may be because I read that DiCaprio was offered the role but had to turn it down due to his commitments with "The Aviator"). At first, he finds the relationship with Theo and Isabelle to be liberating. It is rare to find people you truly connect with, especially in a foreign land (Bertolucci doesn't dwell much on Matthew's isolation, but it doesn't really matter because that's not on his agenda), and that, plus their free-spirited ways, attracts him to them. But he's strong enough to wake up when things go too far.
As the twins, Eva Green and Louis Garrel are on equal footing with Pitt. Green has always been a great actress, be it as a twisted teacher ("Cracks") or a sexy femme fatale ("Casino Royale"). This was her film debut, and it's a great one. There isn't a hint of artifice in Green's performance as the lively, hyper-sexual Isabelle. Her attachment to Theo is unsettling, but Bertolucci takes a relatively non-judgmental view of it, and Green successfully navigates that tightrope. Louis Garrel doesn't stand out as much as Pitt or Green, but that's okay. Theo is more reactive usually, and Garrel draws our attention to Theo without being too ostentatious (except for when the occasion calls for it).
Bernardo Bertolucci, who directed "The Last Emperor" (which I didn't like as much as everyone else), directs this with knowledge and love. He gets the minute details right which gives the film its energy and identity. He also directs this with a love of film; anyone who watches this movie will log onto Netflix and put some classic movies into their queue. While some of the plot points are a little fuzzy and the meaning of the ending isn't as clear as one would hope, it's still compelling cinema.
Like with all NC-17 movies, it's impossible talk about the film without discussing its rating. As open and appreciative of sex and naked beauty in cinema as I am, this is one of the few times where I agree with the NC-17 rating that the MPAA slapped it with (remember that, dear readers, because I guarantee I'm not going to say that again for a long, long time). There is some pretty graphic stuff here, and some scenes are pretty hot. It's not pornographic because it is used to tell a story (that being said, for those filmmakers who wish to marry hot sex with storytelling, this is a good how-to guide). It's necessary to the plot and Bertolucci captures its beauty rather than inserting it in for shock.
"The Dreamers" is a must see for anyone who wants a nostalgia trip or loves movies.
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