Movie spotlight
Before the Revolution
The study of a youth on the edge of adulthood and his aunt, ten years older. Fabrizio is passionate, idealistic, influenced by Cesare, a teacher and Marxist, engaged to the lovely but bourgeois Clelia, and stung by the drowning of his mercurial friend Agostino, a possible suicide. Gina is herself a bundle of nervous energy, alternately sweet, seductive, poetic, distracted, and unhinged. They begin a love affair after Agostino's funeral, then Gina confuses Fabrizio by sleeping with a stranger. Their visits to Cesare and then to Puck, one of Gina's older friends, a landowner losing his land, dramatize contrasting images of Italy's future. Their own futures are bleak.
Insights
Plot Summary
In Parma, Italy, Fabrizio, a young, privileged student, grapples with his political disillusionment and personal desires. Torn between his Marxist ideals and his bourgeois upbringing, he enters into a passionate and incestuous relationship with his older sister, Gina. Their affair becomes intertwined with his political awakening and the social turmoil of Italy in the early 1960s.
Critical Reception
Bernardo Bertolucci's directorial debut is a visually stunning and thematically rich exploration of youthful rebellion, political awakening, and forbidden love. While its avant-garde style and controversial subject matter were noted, critics often praised its artistic ambition and Bertolucci's nascent directorial vision, even if it divided audiences upon release.
What Reviewers Say
Praised for its bold artistic vision and ambitious exploration of complex themes.
Recognized as a significant early work by a major director, showcasing stylistic flair.
Acknowledged for its controversial portrayal of themes like incest and political disillusionment.
Google audience: Information on specific Google user reviews for 'Before the Revolution' is not readily available.
Fun Fact
Bernardo Bertolucci was only 21 years old when he directed 'Before the Revolution', making it one of the earliest directorial efforts from a filmmaker who would go on to achieve global acclaim.
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