The Dreamers (2003)

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Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.

Starring Robin Renucci, Anna Chancellor, Michael Pitt, Louis Garrel, Eva Green.

Veteran Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci directs the erotic drama The Dreamers, adapted from the novel The Holy Innocents: A Romance by Gilbert Adair. American student Matthew (Michael Pitt) is studying in Paris during the politically turbulent late '60s. The story begins in 1968 with the firing of Henri Langlois, the founder of the French Cinémathèque. At a protest demonstration, Matthew meets cinema-obsessed Isabelle (Eva Green) and her twin brother, Theo (Louis Garrel). When their Bohemian parents (Robin Renucci and Anna Chancellor) leave for the summer, the twins invite Matthew to live with them. While the revolution rages on outside, the three young people stay in the comfortable flat playing decadent sexual games. Bertolucci incorporates clips from classic films like Queen Christina, Band of Outsiders, and Breathless. After showing at several European film festivals, The Dreamers made its U.S. premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Re:Weekly Theme for July 14: Th ...
by mercurial in Weekly Theme

loved it.

"Aside from some of my favorites that were already mentioned (M, Edward Scissorhands) I have to say one of the best angry mobs is in Xala. A group of disenfranchised disfigured and destitute storm the home of a wealthy politician, strip him down and proceed to take turns spitting their disease ridden mucus all over him. Fun times. Without straying too far from the topic (the rebellions of films like Battleship Potempkin, Mutiny on the Bounty, Cutthroat Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.) some of the mob scenes that stick out in my mind are: Citizen Ruth - Loaded with mobs of crazy anti-abortionists. The Dreamers - At the end of the film when the mob of students storm through the streets. The Night of the Hunter Elvira, Mistress of the Dark - Hilariously bad movie with a great mob of prudish townsfolk. A Nightmare on Elm Street - Brief but essential. Dogville - I know this is bending what exactly constitutes an "angry mob" but the conspiratorial townspeople are just completely fu ... " [More]

The Dreamers (2003, France/Ital ...
by CinemaRian in CinemaRian Blog

hasn't rated it.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. [What do you think?]
"Just when you think you've seen just about everything, and can't be shocked any more, and a truly disturbing movie like The Dreamers comes along. Bernardo Bertolucci does not use his subject matter just for shock value, however. This is a mature film whose content is necessary for the story being told. The film is not pornography because it allows us to understand (while never justifying) the character's behavior. It also inspired me to make sure that I never, ever, loose a movie trivia contest. The film opens in 1968 Paris as Matthew (Michael Pitt), an American exchange student and film buff meets a two fellow cineasts- Isabelle (Eva Green) and her brother Theo (Louis Garrell). The trio takes an instant liking to each other and siblings invite Matthew to stay in their apartment while their parents are away. Matthew quickly falls for Isabelle but is in for surprise when he finds out that she is an insestuous relationship with Theo. Even stranger, although at first repelled, ... " [More]

Re:Recasting smaller productions
by Risselada in Filmgaming

hasn't rated it.

"[quote user="mercurial"]I thought of some, but most only count for about 90% of the film. There is Pi, which is mostly the main character throughout the film. Anatomy of Hell, a French film featuring only two actors fornicating for most of the film. The Dreamers, which is about 3 actors hauled up in an apartment doing all sorts of sordid things. The 24th Day which has two guys, one tied up, locked in an apartment. And I was thinking The Seventh Seal, but that is only two characters for about half of the film. As for a one man show, I would definitely love to see Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Molly Shannon, Peter O'Toole, and Maggie Smith. The only one man show I can actually recall is Paul Reubens doing Pee-Wee Herman at the Groundlings Theater (I think it was there) which is probably one of the funniest performances ever. I'd love to see him do something new.[/quote] Huh, I've never heard of Anatomy of Hell. The description doesn't sound like an endorsement, but I wonde ... " [More]

Re:Recasting smaller productions
by mercurial in Filmgaming

loved it.

"[quote user="Risselada"] Wow people really seem to get off on this group. I'm amazed. Where did everyone come from? Well it's almost too much mental energy for me to think up my full casts for all of the proposals you've made so far, much less spend the time looking over ever single submission. So I am proposing movies with smaller casts so it's easier. First of all what about recasting Secret Honor. There's only one actor in the whole thing, Phillip Baker Hall. Then I tried to think of other movies that only had one actor, and all I could think of was all of Spalding Gray's movies. But how could you possibly have someone else do Spalding Gray's material? It's basically a personal true story, so it wouldn't make sense for it to ever be remade. Then I surprised and saddened to realize I couldn't think of a single other production with only one actor. I did a search and actually found a movie called An Evening of Edgar Allen Poe starring (surpise) Vincent Price alone. The mo ... " [More]

How come my trip to Paris wasn' ...
by mrbuckyk in mrbuckyk Blog

liked it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"DIR-TAY!! Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.. In the last five years I've slowly been educating myself with French modern/new wave and this is a modern film that has nothing but love for that era. incredibly (and refreshingly) frank with it's depiction of sex(uality). Michael Pitt has already amassed an interesting library of films. " [More]

Depression=Sex (apparently)
by indieabby88 in Bloggish review blog

hasn't rated it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"The message of Lou Ye's film "Summer Palace" seems to be this: depressed people have sex. A lot. There are three major characters in Ye's film that have some obvious issues, and all of them waste no time hopping into bed with each other in an attempt to escape their apparent (and unexplained) pain. The director manages to make this situation somewhat interesting during the first half of the movie, but the last half drags miserably to a conclusion that doesn't seem like a neat wrap-up of the events we've witnessed, but a confession that Ye is just as bored with the movie as the audience is, and he wanted it to be over as much as I did. It's pretty seldom that I come across a film that has me counting down the minutes until the end, but "Summer Palace" managed to do just that. The story starts with Yu Hong, a girl from a small town in China who gets accepted to Beijing University just before the Tiananmen Square massacre. She makes friends with ... " [More]

Re: most overrated gay movie
by lukasblu in Queer Cinema

liked it.

"gregg araki films i've seen and liked The Doom Generation, and Mysterious Skin;i am also af fan of james duval and rose mcgowan from doom generation;And i like joseph gordon lewitt from mysterious skinIn the ending of doom generation;i saw amy being tortured and it looked like xavier was dead or dying;I do not understand how both xavier and amy survived without a scratch or the fact that they survived at all;Only jordan did not make it and die??Can you explain to me that ending on your viewpoint?I watched this movie with my nephew and a friend and we were all perplexed with the endingI use to think that james duval was related to robert duvall but they have no blood relations whatsoever;the spellings of their last name is different;james last name has one L and roberts has two L's;And i always thought that james was much younger in age(because of the roles he plays and the way he looks):He's actually 34:this are just trivial things i found out about james recently; Anyway that must ... " [More]

Re: Introduce Yourself
by josephkuzma in Introduce Yourself

disliked it.

"I'm Joe and my terribly original handle on Spout is josephkuzma. Took me hours to decide on that one. Truthfully my first choice was swordfishtrombones but I think it was too long or something. If you get that reference, you're my new friend.I learned about Spout in Paste Magazine (best magazine... ever).I'm a sleep technician by trade so you'll notice all my postings are nocturnal and I'm a new father so they'll also be sporadic at best.As far as movies go my favorite of all time would be Dr. Strangelove (thus the avatar). Following that (in absolutely no particular order) are Brazil, Seven Samurai, Leon: The Professional, King of New York, Donnie Darko, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars (and, of course, Empire & Jedi). Least favorite movie: The Dreamers - I liked The Last Emperor but this makes me want to beat Bertolucci with a sock full of Sacagawea dollars.Greatest television show of all time? Family Guy.I am a hardened atheist, an ardent Democrat and ... " [More]

Interesting film
by bonnieblue in bonnieblue Blog

loved it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"This is one of those films where the style beats out the substance. Still, i did like it. Movie buffs will enjoy the scenes where they try to come up with a movie reference that stumps the other two. Also the scenes where they run through the Louvre are great! Could have done without the hints of the "are they or aren't they" when it comes to the twins, though. Wasn't necessary to the plot. Still, the scenery is beautiful. The actors are great, and it is definitely worth watching. " [More]

Tags: nudity , paris , erotic , may1968 , american
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