Left alone in Paris whilst their parents are on holiday, Isabelle (Eva Green) and her brother Theo (Louis Garrel) invite Matthew (Michael Pitt), a young American student, to stay at their apartment. Here they make their own rules as they experiment with their emotions and sexuality while playing a series of increasingly demanding mind games.
Set against the turbulent political backdrop of France in the spring of 1968 when the voice of youth was reverberating around Europe, “The Dreamers” is a story of self-discovery as the three students test each other to see just how far they will go.
The Dreamers was helmed by Bernardo Bertolucci, whose film The Last Emperor swept the 1987 Academy Awards garnering nine Oscars including Best Director and Best Picture. It marks his third film shot in Paris, following The Conformists and the Oscar-nominated Last Tango in Paris. The screenplay, adapted for the screen from his original novel, is by English author and film critic Gilbert Adair.
The Dreamers strikes a personal chord for both Bertolucci and Adair, for although their paths never crossed, they were both living in Paris at the end of the 60s, experiencing the events against which the film is set. Their love of cinema took them to the birthplace of the Nouvelle Vague (New Wave), immersing them in a strong international cinema culture. “There was something magic in the 60s,” Bertolucci recalls, “in that we were … well, let’s use the word ‘dreaming’. We were fusing cinema, politics, music, jazz, rock ‘n roll, sex, philosophy.”
The film stars Michael Pitt, recently seen in the award-winning Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and with Sandra Bullock in Murder by Numbers, Eva Green in her feature film debut, and Louis Garrel, who previously appeared in Yolande Zauberman’s La Guerre in Paris.
The Dreamers
Directed by: Bernardo Bertolucci
Starring: Michael Pitt, Louis Garrel, Eva Green, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Anna Chancellor, Robin Renucci, Valentin Merlet, Lola Peploe
Screenplay by: Gilbert Adair
Production Design by: Jean Rabasse
Cinematography by: Fabio Cianchetti
Film Editing by: Jacopo Quadri
Costume Design by: Louise Stjernsward
Art Direction by: Pierre Duboisberranger
MPAA Rating: R for strong sexual content and graphic nudity, language, drug use.
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release Date: February 6, 2004
Raleted Link: Read Full Production Notes for The Dreamers Movie
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