From director Bernardo Bertolucci (The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor), I found this Italian film in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I hoped I would agree with the four stars out of five that critics gave it, so I watched it and hoped for the best. Basically the film tells the story of teenager Fabrizio (Francesco Barilli), he is a young man nearing adulthood, he is a passionate and idealistic youth who lives with his aunt. Cesare (Morando Morandini), a teacher and Marxist who is engaged to lovely but bourgeois Clelia (Cristina Pariset), Cesare influences many of Fabrizio's decisions, and Fabrizio is still grieving for the death, possibly suicide, of his volatile friend Agostino (Allen Midgette). Following Agostino's funeral Fabrizio begins a love affair with alternately sweet, seductive, poetic, distracted and unhinged Gina (Adriana Asti), but then she swings the other way and sleeps with a stranger. They visit Cesare often, and Gina's older landowner friend Puck (Cecrope Barilli), their futures seem to be bleak with the relationship problems, losing land and much more, and this contrasts with what is going on with Italy and the country's future. Also starring Domenico Alpi as Fabrizio's father and Amelia Bordi as Fabrizio's mother. I have to be honest that I only vaguely paid attention to the story within the more serious stuff going on, and I found it hard to concentrate on the majority of the film's material, and not just because of having to read subtitles, I don't think I would watch it again to try and understand it better, I know it is not a bad political drama. Worth watching, in my opinion!

Before the Revolution (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1964) - 9.5/10 This is by far, the best thing Bernardo Bertolucci has ever done. I've always been impressed by the man's style but there has also always been something keeping me from becoming even remotely attached to his films. Whether it be the sterility in Partner or the overacting in Last Tango, I've never been able to appreciate his obvious talent. The fantastic cinematography from Aldo Scavarda (most famous for his work on L'Avventura) definitely gives it a very Antonioni feel but at the same time the film has a very playful edge, something neither Bertolucci or Antonioni could ever grasp. (which isn't an insult on Antonioni's part, his films never called for) I suppose Bertolucci sort of tried to do this in Last Tango in Paris with the JPL subplot but I always found that part of the film to be really awkward and ill-fitting. Here, though, it meshes perfectly and creates one of the most poignant portraits of a doomed romance that I've ever seen. I could complain that the characters talk in a far too poetic way but the film also has that "spontaneous" energy thing going for it so much so that the dialogue isn't particularly obnoxious. It may sound a bit too "film-nerdy" but this just seems like a perfect stylistic combination of Antonioni and Godard.

1st watched 10/17/2005 - 3 out of 10(Dir-Bernardo Bertolucci): Confusing, talkative, political romantic drama, I think. This is one of Bernardo Bertolucci's first films and was supposedly a breakthru film for him, but I just didn't get it. It probably has something to do with the fact that I'm an American with very little understanding of the Italian Revolution and what it meant for the people who lived there, but it also has to do with Bertolucci's lack of any kind background given to the characters. We are greeted with the main character, Fabrizio, running through the streets with his thoughts being displayed as he runs. He meets up with a friend who he urges to become a member of the Party(the Italian Communist Party) and the next thing we know he drowns, and we're at his funeral. Here Fabrizio, reacquaints himself with Aunt Gina, whom he met at another funeral years before, and they start a deeper relationship that lasts thru most of the rest of the movie. The only other character of note is a Communist Tutor named Cesaro, whom Fabrizio speaks highly of but once we meet him we're not quite sure why. Nothing really happens besides this and no-one really does any kind of changing from the beginning to the end and we're left with what appears to be a silly romantic movie in the end. This is at least, all I was able to get out of this movie despite it's attempts at getting me to understand something else. I'm sorry, it just didn't happen for me.

competently made, good acting and interesting editing and camera movement. the film is the standard boy meets girl and loses girl and both are forever unhappy because of their stubbornness. though it's told in that art cinema way where the audience isn't quite sure what has happened in the relationship except that the nature of the relationship has changed. they become cold to each other and are conflicted about whether to stay or leave the relationship. the film feels episodic where scenes don't really fit in, but in each scene, the relationship changes a little. then there's the political part of the film, where the male protagonist questions whether it's possible for a wealthy young man to be part of a communist party. he runs into some people he knows and talk about the revolution and intellectual ideas. it's in these scenes, the film feels decidedly fench. i dunno, i'd probably watch too many french new wave films (more so than Italian ones) where people sit around and talk about revolutions, cinema and communism that i've come to associate these scenes as being french. i wasn't amazed by this film, but i enjoyed it enough and it did not drag on like some art films do. it's worth a look if you're interested in European art cinema of the 60s.