The Dreamers (2003)

A young American studying in Paris in 1968 strikes up a friendship with a French brother and sister. Set against the background of the '68 Paris student riots.

Director:

Bernardo Bertolucci

Writers:

Gilbert Adair (screenplay), Gilbert Adair (based on the novel)

Stars:

Michael Pitt, Louis Garrel, Eva Green

2 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Michael Pitt	...	Matthew
Eva Green	...	Isabelle / Sister
Louis Garrel	...	Theo / Brother
Anna Chancellor	...	Mother
Robin Renucci	...	Father
Jean-Pierre Kalfon	...	Self
Jean-Pierre Léaud	...	Self (as Jean-Paul Leaud)
Florian Cadiou	...	Patrick
Pierre Hancisse	...	First Buff
Valentin Merlet	...	Second Buff
Lola Peploe	...	The Usherette
Ingy Fillion	...	Theo's Girlfriend

Storyline

Paris, spring 1968. While most students take the lead in the May 'revolution', a French poet's twin son Theo and daughter Isabelle enjoy the good life in his grand Paris home. As film buffs they meet and 'adopt' modest, conservatively educated Californian student Matthew. With their parents away for a month, they drag him into an orgy of indulgence of all senses, losing all of his and the last of their innocence. A sexual threesome shakes their rapport, yet only the outside reality will break it up.

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Plot Keywords:

female full frontal nudity | menage a trois | brother sister relationship | 1960s | brother sister incest | 

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Taglines:

A new film by director Bernardo Bertolucci

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated NC-17 for explicit sexual content

Did You Know?

Trivia

There were scenes in the script depicting much more blatant sexual relations between the characters of Matthew and Theo, but they were not filmed. Director Bernardo Bertolucci said, "The gay sex was in the first script, but I had a feeling that it was just too much stuff. It became redundant." Actor Michael Pitt said in an interview, "It was in the script and it's what I'd signed to do. But they said we weren't going to do that."

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Goofs

When Isabelle takes Matthew to see her Father, she ruffles his hair and it messes. In the next shot it's perfectly neat.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Matthew: The first time I saw a movie at the cinématèque française I thought, "Only the French... only the French would house a cinema inside a palace."

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Crazy Credits

The end credits scroll down the screen (top-to-bottom), and multi-line entries are written to be read bottom-to-top.

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Alternate Versions

US R-rated version runs ca. 3 minutes shorter than the uncut NC-17-rated version.

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Connections

Features Langlois (1970)

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Soundtracks

El paso del Ebro
(1808)
Harmonised by Rodolfo Halffter
Published by Le Chant du Monde
Performed by Choeur et Orchestre
Directed by Rodolfo Halffter
Courtesy of Le Chant du Monde

User Reviews

A romantic confession of a great filmmaker

Paris, May 1968. Revolution breaks out and the world seems to be in a critical turning point, but inside the four walls of an apartment, three youngsters experience their very own revolution.

Yes, it's true. In the year 2004, one of the best cinematic experiences is offered by Bertolucci. Many are those who'd thought that he had nothing more to give, but with THE DREAMERS, the creator is reborn and next to his heroes he witnesses again the passage from adolescence and innocence to the age of responsibilities. A great fan of cinema himself, he doesn't hesitate to pay a number of tributes, just like Godard used to do in the past and Tarantino very recently. As he puts his view into the eyes of his protagonists, the girl and the boys seem to live inside the movies they adore. They're playing with lines from known films, they imitate characters, they put themselves into the sequences they love.

Despite their young age, all three actors not only do they show that they're worth of starring in a Bertolucci film, but they also go even further giving in every scene the necessary vividness and realistic tension. Ignoring the cosmogony taking place in the streets, they surrender to their own cosmogonic changes, to the wild sexual awakening, to the game between friendship and love, pleasure and pain. Eventually they commit themselves to the struggle between the game itself and real life. And that's where the heroes violently return in the thrilling final sequences in order to face their duty towards history.

THE DREAMERS is by far one the best motion pictures of the year, so daring but at the same time so energetic that seems able to touch anyone as a pure and romantic confession of a great filmmaker.

Details

Country:

UK France Italy USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

20 February 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Dreamers

Filming Locations:

Palais Chaillot, Paris 16, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$142,632, 8 February 2004

Gross USA:

$2,532,228

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$15,121,165

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Searchlight Pictures, HanWay Films, Medusa Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min 112 min (R-rated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1