Bernardo Bertolucci: filmography and biography

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

One of the most famous and significant names in European cinema, no doubt, is Bertolucci. The director's filmography includes about 25 films, but this is the case when it is the quality that prevails. For the past 50 years, Bernardo Bertolucci has continued to shoot his films, and each new one always arouses the sincere interest of critics and viewers around the world.

Childhood and youth

From the moment of birth, the future director was doomed to a connection with art and culture. Bernardo Bertolucci, whose biography begins in the Italian city of Parma in 1940, was born into a creative family. His mother, Ninetta, was a teacher, and his father, Attilio, was a film critic, poet, and art professor. All this environment that surrounded him since childhood could not but leave imprints on the boy's personality. The father did his best to educate his child and was very pleased when he made his first short films while still at school. At the same time, Bernardo became interested in writing and even entered the University of Rome in a direction closely related tophilosophy and literature. By this time, he had already managed to become a famous poet in certain circles, and thanks to his connections in 1961 he worked as an assistant to Pier Paolo Pasolini himself.

Career start

For Bernardo Bertolucci's filmography in big cinema began in 1962, when he left the university to devote himself entirely to filming. In the same year, he releases his first full-length feature film called "Bony Godfather". The author was very worried about how things are in modern society, in particular he paid attention to its vices. The debut picture set the general tone for all subsequent ones and became a kind of model for the emergence of a unique style.

His next work is "Before the Revolution", where the theme of incest, often touched upon by the director, is already present. The film was accepted without much curiosity, but still became significant for the future career of the creator. Before the whole world knows the name Bertolucci, his filmography manages to replenish with three more films, such as Love and Fury, Partner and Spider Strategy. Around the same time, that is, towards the end of the 70s, he was filming the series "Oil Pipeline" and acts as a co-author of the cult film of his compatriot Sergio Leone "Once Upon a Time in the Wild West".

World famous

Next, the director explores the fascist past of his native Italy, resulting in a film adaptation of the work of Alberto Moravia. The painting was named"Conformist" and brought worldwide fame to its creator. It won the prestigious David di Donatello award, and was also innovative and set a new direction for its genre, resulting in The Godfather. Scandalousness and pretentiousness have always distinguished the films of Bernardo Bertolucci. The director's filmography is familiar to most viewers thanks to his film "Last Tango in Paris".

In some countries it was even banned, including the USSR, but people still found the opportunity to taste the forbidden fruit. The abundance of erotic, overly explicit scenes, however, did not prevent the film from being awarded the Golden Globe nomination in 1974. The director's next work was the military drama The Twentieth Century, in which the main roles were played by Gerard Depardieu and Robert De Niro. It was a professional take-off to the heights of success, which, unfortunately, declined sharply after "The Moon" and "The Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man", perceived by many critics as a purely negative one.

English period

There are certain lines that permeate and group Bertolucci's films. The filmography of the director takes a new turn after the previous failed works, and he himself leaves for England, vowing not to shoot more on the Italian theme. Here begins a new period of his work. Bernardo has always been interested in the alluring culture of the East, which inspired him to make a picture entirely dedicated to China. It is called "The Last Emperor", and on her account as many as 9 "Oscar" awards. Tape instantlycaptivated viewers around the world and is considered a pearl of cultural heritage.

Further he explores Africa and Tibet in Little Buddha and Under the Cover of Heaven, which are no longer able to match his previous masterpiece, but anyone who cares about the work of the famous Italian director, they will still be curious. And the story of Siddhartha Gautam was approved even by the Dalai Lama himself.

Return to Italy

For a long 15 years, Bernardo travels and makes his films, but eventually returns to his homeland. There he begins work on the drama "Escaping Beauty". By that time, many actors dreamed of acting with Maestro Bertolucci. The filmography of Liv Tyler, for example, was replenished with the first major role, and subsequently the actress began to receive many other offers. The picture tells about a girl of incredible beauty who, after the tragic suicide of her mother, goes to Tuscany to seek solace, as well as clues leading to the reasons for such a terrible act. The film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival, but never received an award. The next Italian work of the director was the film "Besieged", but it is not often remembered against the background of other masterpieces of the master.

2000s

The twentieth century was the peak of Bertolucci's activity, whose filmography is now in decline. This is not surprising, given the director's advanced age. Nevertheless, he became a co-author of twomovie almanacs (such as Ten Minutes Older: The Cello and Venice 70: Future Reboot) along with other great directors. In 2003, the picture "Dreamers" was released, which instantly captivated millions of viewers around the world. It is dedicated to the Paris riots of the late 60s, and the leading roles were played by outstanding young talents: Eva Green, Louis Garrel and Michael Pitt.

It took another 9 years before Bernardo Bertolucci released another film. They became the family drama "You and Me". However, it received mixed reviews from critics. So far, history is silent about the director’s next work, but one thing is clear: no matter what it is, no matter what topics it raises, wherever it is filmed, film gourmets all over the world with an insatiable sense of hunger will be waiting for its release on the screens. After all, even if it does not become another masterpiece, it still deserves attention due to the fact that it was created by one of the greatest masters of cinema that ever lived on the planet.