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䩕Last Tango in Paris蒅, 䩕The Conformist蒅, 䩕The Last Emperor蒅﷿.Italian film director Bernardo Bertolucci is a master of controversy, never ceasing to surprise audiences with eye-opening storylines and arresting images. Eleven of his distinguished works produced from 1962 to 1998 will be shown in Hong Kong next month.
Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and sponsored by Consulate General of Italy in Hong Kong, the retrospective 䩕Bernardo Bertolucci蒅 is part of the 䩕Year of Italy in China 2006蒅. It is the first programme of the 䩕Repertory Cinema 2006蒅 series curated by Law Wai-ming. Two other retrospectives 䩕German New Cinema of the 60s蒅 and works of Japanese film director Terayama Shuji will be featured respectively in September and November.
The selection includes Bertolucci﷿s early works 䩕The Grim Reaper蒅 (1962) and 䩕Before the Revolution蒅(1964), award-winning films 䩕The Conformist蒅 (1970), 䩕Last Tango in Paris蒅 (1972) and 䩕The Last Emperor蒅 (1987), 䩕Luna蒅 (1979) and 䩕Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man蒅 (1981) and the five hours masterpiece of 䩕1900蒅 (1976).
The films will be shown from July 4 to 12 at the Cinema of Hong Kong Film Archive, July 15 to 23 at the Lecture Hall of Hong Kong Space Museum and July 17 to 21 at the Lecture Hall of Hong Kong Science Museum.
A seminar entitled 䩕The Complication of Bertolucci蒅, to be conducted in Cantonese, is scheduled for July 16 at 4 pm at the Lecture Hall of Hong Kong Space Museum.
Bertolucci belongs to the third generation of the post-war Italian directors. The beginning of his career coincided with the economic boom and the consequent rise of the new middle class in Italy. Following the transition of post-war Italian neo-Realism, Bertolucci depicted the malaise of western European intellectuals caught in the midst of social transition and disintegration of old values and systems.
Born in Parma, Bertulocci followed in his poet father﷿s footsteps and published an anthology of poetry that won a prestigious national literary award. He started his film career at the age of 21 as an assistant to film director Pier Paolo Pasolini.
He made his directing debut with 䩕The Grim Reaper蒅 which was based on a script by Pasolini. His second film 䩕Before the Revolution蒅 marked the first significant step in his artistic path.
Bertolucci﷿s themes transcend the conflict between Italian history and personal political consciousness. His films are full of tragedy showing the agony, madness, confusion and degeneration of self-imposed exiles.
The opening film 䩕The Conformist蒅 is a masterwork that won him international acclaim. A thriller about an intellectual who joins the Fascists and is handed an assassination assignment, the film flows with a non-linear narrative structure and mesmerises with Bertolucci﷿s signature lyrical images. It won Best Director Award at the Venice Film Festival 1970, the National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA in 1972, and the Journalists﷿ Special Award at the Berlin International Film Festival 1970.
Bertulocci won Best Director at the Oscars for his most disputed film 䩕Last Tango in Paris蒅. Sensational eroticism, sensuous and passionate visual aesthetics and totally uninhibited dialogue on lust and the human condition, and with a brilliant performance by Marlon Brandon, the film proves the director﷿s absolute mastery of film language through the brilliant script and bravura cinematography.
After 䩕Last Tango in Paris蒅, he secured sufficient funding to fulfill his dream epic, the 312-minute 䩕1900蒅 starring Robert De Niro and Gンrard Depardieu. To Bertolucci, it is not merely a film but his political manifesto. Through the lives of a peasant and a landowner﷿s son and how their fates choose opposing political paths, Bertolucci condemns the hypocrisy of capitalism and glorifies humanism. The film won Best Director Award at Bodil Film Festival 1977.
What﷿s a mother to do if her only son becomes a junkie? In 䩕Luna蒅, Bertolucci offers a universally accepted solution ﷿ love, but adopts a radical way. Another film full of surprise, the 䩕Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man蒅 exposes the selfishness of the bourgeoisie. The son of the owner of a cheese factory has been kidnapped, yet the father, with Anonk Aimンe being his beautiful wife is deliberating his time to pay the ransom as he wants more chance to get close to his son﷿s gorgeous girlfriend!
Whether 䩕The Last Emperor蒅 is Bertolucci﷿s magnum opus is a matter of personal taste. It took Hollywood by storm and swept the board at the Oscars. With the hit theme music composed by Sakamoto Ryuichi, lavish costumes designed by Jim Acheson, superb performances by John Lone and Joan Chen, the film is a majestic pageant of stunning cinematography, music and art direction.
Bertolucci﷿s early works pulsate his youthful genius. His debut 䩕The Grim Reaper蒅 (1962) spins fives stories in Rashomon mode--each with its own version of 䩕truth蒅. In 䩕Before the Revolution蒅, charting the unconventional erotic love between a young radical and his middle-aged aunt, the director integrates his political ideology into the exploration of human nature.
With crafted script and ravishing colours, 䩕Besieged蒅 features a classical pianist who becomes besotted with his beautiful but melancholy domestic helper. She responds with a proposition ﷿ rescue her husband who is a political prisoner in Africa. The Bertoluccian hero is in Helmet﷿s shoes, taunted by the choice between physical gratification and romantic fulfillment.
Not to be missed are 䩕The Spider﷿s Stratagem蒅 (1970) and 䩕The Sheltering Sky蒅 (1990). The former is a thriller about a young man﷿s attempt to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding his long-deceased anti-facist work while 䩕The Sheltering Sky蒅 is an adaptation of Paul Bowles﷿ work, starring John Malkovich and Debra Winger.
䩕The Grim Reaper蒅, 䩕Before the Revolution蒅, 䩕The Spider﷿s Stratagem蒅, 䩕1900蒅, 䩕Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man蒅 have English subtitles and other films are in English. 䩕The Conformist蒅 and 䩕Luna蒅 also have Chinese subtitles.
Tickets priced at $50 are available at all URBTIX outlets. Half-priced concessionary tickets are available for senior citizens, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients. There will be a 10% discount for each purchase of six to 10 tickets and a 20% for each purchase of 11 or more tickets.
For programme information, call 2734 2900 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/fp . Reservations can be made at 2734 9009 or on the Internet at www.urbtix.hk
Ends/Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:54
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