Review of The Dreamers
Year: 2003 Reviewer: Chris Docker
The Dreamers
It was the May and June of 1968 in France. Student uprisings were occurring in many countries, frequently in response to the U.S. war in VietNam, but in France the situation was more complex and more embracing. Amongst those taking to the streets were cinephiles, protesting over the way film was distributed and also its political content. French New Wave cinema was born, led by such people as Godard and Truffaut. Riots broke out and strikes ensued. Godard and Truffaut both received a beating in the mayhem and fights (which involved tear gas and Molotov cocktails).
The film's story starts just before all this. A Californian youth (Matthew) meets up with two fellow film buffs (Theo and Isabelle, who are brother and sister) and they become close friends, united by youthful hedonism, a bohemian, revolutionary spirit, and a love of cinema that spills over into elaborate games and dares, testing each other's knowledge of movies. The film's elements include the developing sexual challenges between the three main characters, the atmosphere of political unrest and uprising, and a detailed questioning of various cinematic trends. A backdrop of some of the best sound recordings of the time (Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Doors) uses analogous developments and confrontations in music, characteristic of that period. Director Bertolucci (of Last Tango in Paris), also pushes at the boundaries of censorship with the sexual themes and degree of full frontal nudity (censorship was a major issue in French cinema in the late sixties - today it is U.S. distributors that are complaining about the nudity in The Dreamers). There are also political dilemmas represented by the pacifist Matthew (who feels he has been lucky to dodge the draft) and the French siblings who preach love but allow their left-wing sympathies to not rule out violence. In an interesting debate about film, or viewing one's life as a film, Theo expresses admiration for Mao's red army and what a wonderful film that would make - but Matthew points out that in such a film ‘everyone would be extras, no-one would be special'.
The final mix in The Dreamers is a heady cocktail for serious film lovers, but not mainstream by any standards. Reflecting its subject matter, this is cinema as art rather than as entertainment.
Rating: 8/10
Reviews Index Page: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z