Our generation is so boring, we need another revolution

The Dreamers

Unlike “The Last Tango in Paris”, I did not feel like commenting on the movie while I watch it, so I expect that I have much less to write, and at the same time to forget most of my initial impressions. Also, I might find it difficult not to compare this movie to the 30 year older Last Tango because the handwriting of Bertolucci is just way too apparent.

Aside from the intriguing premise (a ménage à trois of movie fans) and the splendid Eva Green (I want her, badly), what dragged me into the movie the most was the scene in which Matthew confronts the twins’ father with his “it all fits”-talk. Somehow I found that rather interesting and smart, and it shows pretty well that Matthew is indeed worthy of being “part” of their little party. Which brings me to the next highlight of the movie: The three of them running through the Louvre was somehow an impressive scene. I haven’t seen Bande à part, but there is a similar scene in Jules et Jim. My first thought was “I want to do this too!”, and my second “It only works with three people.” Yes, love triangles are indeed the most intriguing relationship form ever, especially because I believe that they are deemed to fall apart. Contradictory feelings, a mix of love and friendship, sexual identity, and foremost jealousy, this all is the in a love triangle and makes movies like Jules et Jim or The Dreamers so fascinating.
In fact, these three are a perfect match. Even though I love Jake Gyllenhaal (the prospective of seeing him naked so often is rather intriguing after all!) and think that he’s a perfect naive american in Paris, I’m glad that it ended up with Michael Pitt, the chemistry between them is much better like this. Maybe I shall explain what I liked about them, but I can’t find any other aspect besides the 68-ish way to talk about movies and their charming insider games; in fact, it just works.

Eva Green’s attractive character (arr, the red hat at the beginning!) makes me wonder if in real life, I would really want an encounter with a woman like this. It’s hot when she orders the boys around, but somehow I can’t see myself finding the orders of a woman hot (I was even slightly pushed back by the part in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” in which Sabina orders Teres to undress herself). The idea of saying “Masturbate in front of me!” is somewhat exciting with a man – no matter which way around, but with a woman… it isn’t. I wonder why.

Oh yeah, I have completely forgotten to write about sex. Erm, actually I didn’t find it that interesting in this movie. Sure, the naked bodies are pictured in a rather beautiful way, but I was missing the chemistry and the dense atmosphere that we saw at the end of “Y tu mamá también” with the dance and Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal kissing. A comparable scene might be the one in which they lie together and fall asleep next to each other (which is really somehow romantic), but it hasn’t much to do with sex.

The end was expected and I knew about it already. Of course it’s rather generic how ‘reality’ has separated the ‘dreamers’ who were hiding away in their apartment and did not want to see the cruel truth of the world… whatever, this political aspect of the movie is rather generic and not particularily interesting. It’s interesting to see the Henri Langlois affair to play an important part in a movie, but there weren’t many thoughts and dialogues going with it (unlike “Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei”), so whatever. I guess it’s more the big picture of “sex, cinema and politics” that intrigues me so much, and that made this movie great for me, despite its weaknesses especially in the middle.

So, after seeing two Bertolucci movies, I still don’t know whether I like him or not. The movies themselves were very good indeed, and they looked great, but at the same time, I wonder if his other movies would reach this.

PS. Of course all the movies “The Dreamers” references to are great *___* I want to see them, like always!