Release Date:
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
An artsy subtitled film from a foreign director usually means time to fast-forward until the tastefully done nudity kicks in. But with Oscar-winner Bernardo Bertolucci hitching his name to the project, we decided to give The Dreamers a shot in real movie time. Bad idea. Watching a trio of teens trapped in their parents' apartment for a month discussing early-era cinema amidst black-and-white clips and the 1968 Paris student riots outside gets quickly tiresome. And when the full frontal female-to-male nudity ratio surpasses three penises to one breast, it was time to abandon this experiment. A quartet of extras doesn't add any excitement to the project, only more historical perspective. "Bertolucci Makes The Dreamers" goes far too deep into the research the filmmakers employed to reenact this turbulent era, and the history lesson "Outside the Window: Events in France, May, 1968" packs all the excitement of an underfunded middle school film reel. If you're still awake, you can check out the commentary track by Bertolucci, writer Gilbert Adairworks better than counting sheep or a Serta!