Genre: Drama, Erotic, Drugs, Gay/Lesbian, Period Piece, Coming Of Age, Racy, Love Triangle
Plot: 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 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 CONFORMIST 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 was produced by Jeremy Thomas (BROTHER, SEXY BEAST) who teamed with Bertolucci on THE LAST EMPEROR, THE SHELTERING SKY and LITTLE BUDDHA. 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
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 Discussion forum for this movie
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 Though it seems that Bertolucci is aiming for some kind of greater truth about 1968 Paris and the tenor of the times, the film comes off as a very slight reflection on a very specific and unusual encounter between an boy abroad and two odd siblings.  --Anne Rieman (Hollywood.com)
''The Dreamers,'' which is disarmingly sweet and completely enchanting, fuses sexual discovery with political tumult by means of a heady, heedless romanticism that nearly obscures the film's patient, skeptical intelligence.--A.O. Scott (The New York Times)
The Paris of Bertolucci's misty-eyed vision no longer exists. And in a world where preteens surf the Net for triple-X Web sites, the concept of sexual innocence among college students seems very quaint indeed.--Desson Thomson (Washington Post)
I applaud Bertolucci for not bowing down to studio pressure to trim the carnal content, but “The Dreamers” ends up being defined by the flesh, not the mind, and it just isn‘t enough. C--Brian Orndorf (FilmJerk.com)
While there are moments that are perhaps too ponderous, or even unnecessarily repetitive, the acting is strong enough to keep interest intact, and if not, the gorgeous cinematography certainly will. The Dreamers, in many respectable ways, encapsulates the sense of innocence and adventure we all wish to carry with us, for as much as it entertains and frightens.  --Rachel Gordon (FilmCritic.com)
The bottom line is that the film just isn't terribly entertaining; Bertolucci seems to have made this movie for his personal enjoyment only, which is obnoxious to say the least.  --David Nusair (Reel Film Reviews)
Watching The Dreamers is like taking a nap with your eyes open, but the dream, while it lasts, has value enough to remember.  --Christopher Monfette (MovieWeb)
“The Dreamers” is certainly not a dull film (unlike the overrated and pretentious “Last Tango in Paris”), not with this charming and generally undressed cast, the great ‘60s rock soundtrack and amusing references to Godard, Chaplin, Keaton, Astaire, Garbo, etc. It’s just not a great one.  --Kevin N. Laforest (Montreal Film Journal)
The Dreamers, for all its touching, full-frontal nudity and hints of incest, isn't what you'd call even mildly erotic. This probably is because Bertolucci is more caught up in the sexual gamesmanship than in the sex. --Glenn Lovell (San Jose Mercury News)
Stylish, erotic, forgivably pretentious drama with lashings of explicit sex and strong performances from its three leads. --Matthew Turner (ViewLondon)
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| Written by |
Gilbert Adair
Love and Death on Long Island, Klimt, The Territory |
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| Cast |
Michael Pitt
The Village, Finding Forrester, Murder by Numbers |
 | Eva Green
Kingdom of Heaven, Arsène Lupin, Kingdom of Hope: The Making of 'Kingdom of Heaven' | Louis Garrel
My Mother, Amants réguliers, Les, Ceci est mon corps | Anna Chancellor
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Man Who Knew Too Little, What a Girl Wants | Robin Renucci
Taking Sides, Arsène Lupin, The Children of the Century | | | |
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Embarrassing, self-indulgent bore.  --Jonathan Foreman (New York Post)
The ending notwithstanding, The Dreamers is serious filmmaking—refreshingly frank and truthful in its sexual content, inventive, aesthetically accomplished, and always thought-provoking. --Dustin Putman (The Movie Insider)
The Dreamers is infused with the same kind of wistful melancholy that made the French New Wave films so winning, and it’s all gorgeous to look at, of course, with a number of heart-stopping shots  --Kimberley Jones (Austin Chronicle)
The film is extraordinarily beautiful. Bertolucci is one of the great painters of the screen. He has a voluptuous way here of bathing his characters in scenes from great movies, and referring to others.  --Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)
Sex, cinema, and politics -- in that order -- inspire the escapades of three young lovers in "The Dreamers," director Bernardo Bertolucci's deliriously sensual chamber dramedy set in the momentous climes of 1968 Paris.--Anita Katz (San Francisco Examiner)
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