The Dreamers

The film is about a sexual revolution taking place in a particular apartment. The action unfolds in Paris in 1968, when powerful student protests swept through the streets. The pickets at the Cinémathèque building marked the beginning of a street war between youth and the government, leading to a political crisis in France; in solidarity with the youth, the Cannes Film Festival was even interrupted for the first time in history.

But in "The Dreamers," the Parisian events are merely a backdrop. The main characters are cinephile intellectuals, a brother and sister, and an American tourist who joins them. They lock themselves inside their apartment and create their own "sexual revolution," completely oblivious to what is happening outside.

This film is Bertolucci's nostalgia for his own youth. The characters are rebels, beautiful in their recklessness and irresponsibility.

The film is on the edge—perhaps the best description. "The Dreamers" breathes with contradiction and the shamelessness of youth and makes one blush with the quantity (and quality) of intimate scenes.

And of course, "The Dreamers" will bring special pleasure to cinephiles. Throughout the film, the characters consciously recreate scenes from their favorite movies: Godard's "Contempt" and "Breathless," Tod Browning's "Freaks," Bresson's "Mouchette" and "Ladies of the Park," Chaplin's "City Lights," Buñuel's "The Golden Age," Hawks' "Scarface," Wilder's "Sunset Boulevard"...