United Artists
Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)
Bertolucci's controversial film managed to get some laughs out of me, something most comedies fail to do. The only problem is, this isn't a comedy. Instead, it's a deeply disturbing look at a sado-masochistic relationship between an older man, Brando, and a younger girl, Maria Schneider. When they aren't having kinky sex, Brando is spewing a stream-of-consciousness barrage of filth, sometimes both at the same time. Well, alright, we get it, love, real love, is dirty. This is contrasted, rather awkwardly, by Schneider's relationship with filmmaker Jean-Pierre Leaud. Here, love is like in the movies, and not surprisingly it doesn't work out. However, neither does her relationship with Brando, which she can only break with a desperate act of violence. Like all of Bertolucci's films it's beautiful to look at, but this one is so over-the-top that it is on the brink of epic failure.
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