Film Details

Long undistributed in the U.S. and unavailable here on DVD or Blu-ray, Bertolucci’s second feature (made when he was 22) is both auspicious and astonishing—the work of a cinema prodigy. The movie focuses on a young man in 1962 Parma who flirts with revolt and sexual freedom after discovering Marx, but also feels the strong pull of bourgeois convention. Inspired by Stendahl’s The Charterhouse of Parma; music by Ennio Morricone. Has a 93% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “Sweepingly romantic…Captures what has rarely been seen on the screen—the extravagance and poetry of youthful ardor.” –Pauline Kael. Imported print! Subtitles. 115 min.