The Dreamers [DVD] [2003]]

Watched on ten foot projection with headphones this is a real treat. Whilst the blu-ray (in 4k set) picture quality is immaculate it was the soundtrack, the gorgeous stereo soundtrack that completed the engulfment. Subtitles showed track title and singer as well as faithful dialogue text.Freedom is a much abused word. Here it resides with three students and two parents. But the first shot of the movie is in the tradition of Classics with original use of colour as it down scrolls to the first face we see: a Hollywood face. I thought it was Di Caprio or one of them.Fascinating to compare then (1968) with now (20whatever). They only had music and film. We have information overload but truth is safely hidden by those who are safe. Allowed. Then you could write yourself a tune and get the world to sing with you. Now, now no such thought even occurs.The Dreamers resonates with those movies part of them then. Images of threatening diffference. Godard et al. Smooth camerawork, careful colours, sizzling dialogue. This movie has Edge. Cut yourself on it.

The comparisons with Cocteau's famous book/film are obvious, but this is in fact Bertolucci's ironic, erotic take on the 1968 Paris riots, incorporating the protests on behalf of the legendary French film historian Henri Langlois, who was being removed from his post at the Cinematheque {by the then Minister of Culture Andre Malraux, no less} which he co-founded in 1935. All this soon becomes somewhat peripheral as the 'action' moves into the well-appointed Bohemian apartment of Isabelle and Theo's parents, who then proceed {most thoughtfully} to go away for a month, leaving their teenage children to their own devices.By now they have taken under their wing a callow American student, Matthew, and the fun begins.Most of the fun is ~ on the surface at least ~ of a sexual nature, with all three capering around the rooms of the labyrinthine apartment in various states of undress, and very often naked. Apparently, the actors were encouraged to spend a while in the flat rented for the shoot getting to know each other and feeling at ease with each other's nudity. Well, it certainly seems to have worked. None of the actors seem to be 'doing a nude scene' and their nakedness ~ often highly explicit for what is basically a mainstream art film ~ soon becomes as natural as nudity ever gets in movies.The film is mostly in English, with a particularly compelling, oddly touching, and knowingly witty performance by the then unknown Eva Green {who was soon to be seen, in a far more sophisticated guise, as one of the best ever Bond girls alongside Daniel Craig in Casino Royale}. It is a brave, bold portrayal of a semi-sexualised girl-woman, who happens to have an incestuous bond with her brother. Matthew's attempts to 'educate' her in the conventional ways of boyfriend/girlfriend etiquette are indulged for a brief while {their date, a visit to a restaurant and then the cinema, is a touching interlude} until matters turn darker, in more ways than one. Then, the parents return ... then the outside world comes literally flying through the window.Louis Garrel is suitably moody as brother Theo, while Michael Pitt plays the blond, loved-up yank with a nicely ageless aplomb. But ~ for several reasons ~ it is Eva Green one can't take one's eyes off. She was and is an actress of versatility, intelligence, as well as a ripe voluptuousness all her own. And those eyes!Bertolucci has made few flawless films, and there is certainly a simplistic element to this semi-political film, while the inclusion of clips from classic movies, as well as rock songs of the era from, predictably, the likes of Hendrix, Janis and The Doors, works much of the time but frequently flirts with a corner-cutting triteness.There's an amusing exchange early on between Theo and Matthew regarding the relative merits of Chaplin/Keaton and Clapton/Hendrix. Guess who sticks up for Buster and Jimi. Then Theo {and perhaps this is an in-joke too far} mentions Jerry Lewis ...All in all, an enjoyable, bracing, charged film, in which sexuality plays a major role, yet in a way which few surely would find off-putting or prurient.

Love

The digital transfer is perfect

Who wouldn't have liked to spend a month entangled in a sort of menage a trois with two well-learned, intellectualy rebellious and sexy French siblings living in the heart of bourgeois Paris? Definitely I'd have enjoyed my time very much. The movie is fascinating. I think it wants to show the contradictions of a certain group of Parisians at the end of the sixties or perhaps it wants to pose questions such as the right of the youth of the French comfortable upper classes to rebel against the status quo and portrait communism as a better system; and also wants to provoke and make you think of why love between a brother and a sister is the big elephant in the room.

A wonderful set for a great price this certainly is a great place for physical media from a mainstream studio.I must admit the poster choice was a little strange I initially thought there was a print error but after a brief amount of research it turns out it's intentional.The prints on the cards are entertaining.The film is an interesting one.

This is an unusual film about an unusual subject matter. Based on Gilbert Adair's novel, 'The Holy Innocents', this film is a sensuous postcard from the Paris of 1960s. The world of a pair of sexy siblings gets an American visitor and their lives change. Michael Pitt, the actor who went on to stardom in 'Boardwalk Empire' plays the curious young man. Eva Green is one half of a taboo-breaking pair of twins.The movie is a feast for cinephiles. The characters' dialogue centre around classic movies. If you fancy an erotic treat, 'The Dreamers' is it. And you can love it without feeling guilty! Why? Every scene is shot with Bernado Bertolucci's painterly care.