| Overall Grade: |
B+ |
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| Story: |
A- |
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|
| Acting: |
A- |
|
|
| Direction: |
B+ |
|
|
| Visuals: |
B+ |
|
|
Bertolucci frustrates the hell out of me
by E (movies profile)
Dec 26, 2006
41
of
46 people found this review helpful
This is a very good movie. But as with so many Bertolucci films, there are a couple glaring flaws that prevent this film from being truly great. The inclusion of film clips toward the end of the film is very abrupt and a mistake. Instead of adding nuance to the story, as the clips do early in the film, it unnecessarily removes the viewer from the story at a moment when one is captivated by the three actors on screen.
But the most troubling aspect of the film is Bertolucci's decision to almost totally omit the sexual relationship between the characters of Theo and Mathew. This relationship was the driving force of the Adair novel. (After all, it is Theo's, and not Isabelle's, underwear that Mathew checks out). When a film is adapted from a novel, it is of course fine to deviate from the novel's narrative, but the sexual desire between the two male characters is what makes this a compelling story.
The relationship between Mathew and Isabelle is fine, but tells us little about the confusing and exciting relationship between Mathew and the two siblings. And this cute heterosexual relationship is not what has awakened Mathew...nor is it what has left him a bit dazed and confused. As a straight man, I don't usually sit on the edge of my seat waiting for gay sex, but its absence in this film left me very frustrated. Bertolucci knew that he was going to be given a NC-17 rating in the US and as a result the film would have limited commercial success. So his editing of the male relationship is a bit confusing. With a few changes, this would truly be an important film. |
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