When Isabelle and Theo invite Matthew to stay with them, what begins as a casual friendship ripens into a sensual voyage of discovery and desire in which nothing is off limits and everything is possible.
Cinematography
Fabio Cianchetti's golden Parisian haze makes decay look gorgeous.
Acting
Eva Green's screen debut: feral, fragile, unforgettable.
Direction
Bertolucci's last great gasp of operatic sensuality.
Director
Bernardo Bertolucci
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bertolucci originally wanted Jake Gyllenhaal; Pitt got it after proving he could do full frontal without flinching. The MPAA gave it NC-17, Bertolucci refused to cut, and Fox Searchlight released it unrated—box office death, artistic victory.
The twins' apartment is a shrine to cinephilia—posters of Breathless, Pierrot le Fou, Queen Christina—making their isolation a metaphor for film nerds choosing movies over the real world, which literally burns outside their window.
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