Before the Revolution
Before the Revolution | |
---|---|
Directed by | Bernardo Bertolucci |
Written by | Bernardo Bertolucci Gianni Amico |
Starring | Adriana Asti Francesco Barilli |
Cinematography | Aldo Scavarda |
Edited by | Roberto Perpignani |
Music by | Ennio Morricone |
Distributed by | New Yorker Films (US, 1965) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 112 minutes[1] |
Country | Italy |
Language | Italian |
Before the Revolution (
Plot
Parma, 1962. Fabrizio, a young student who has turned his interest to the aims of the
Fabrizio's aunt Gina, his mother's younger sister from
Fabrizio and Gina start an affair. He introduces her to Cesare, and they read from various philosophical works and reflect on Italy's
One of the following days, Fabrizio runs into Gina who is just coming out of a hotel with a man whom she had a short sexual encounter with. Fabrizio leaves angrily. Later that night, Gina soothes Fabrizio, telling him how glad she is that he is still not a mature man with a wife and family.
Fabrizio, Gina and Cesare meet with Puck, an old lover and friend of Gina's who has been living off land owned by his father his entire life and has never held a job. Facing bankruptcy and an uncertain future, he laments the changing times. When Fabrizio confronts him with his habitual attitude, Gina slaps Fabrizio for insulting Puck. Soon after, she returns to Milan.
At a communist rally in Parma's Parco Ducale, Fabrizio hints at Cesare his disillusionment with the party's ideas. Some time later, he gets married to Clelia, retaining the ties with his social milieu. At the wedding celebration, Gina is seen repeatedly kissing Fabrizio's younger brother Antonio.
Cast
- Adriana Asti as Gina
- Francesco Barilli as Fabrizio
- Allen Midgette as Agostino
- Morando Morandini as Cesare
- Cristina Pariset as Clelia
- Cecrope Barilli as Puck
- Evelina Alpi as the little girl
- Gianni Amico as a friend
- Goliardo Padova as the painter
Background and production
The title of the film is derived from a saying by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord: "Only those who lived before the revolution knew how sweet life could be".[3] The names of some of the characters in the film are the same as those in Stendhal's novel La Chartreuse de Parme:[4] The book's principal character and narrator, Fabrice del Dongo, is now Fabrizio, his aunt Gina Sanseverina is Gina, and Clélia Conti is Clelia.
The film, strongly influenced by the French New Wave,[5] was shot between September and November 1963. The shooting took place in Parma and its surroundings, one scene being filmed in the camera ottica (optical chamber) at the Sanvitale Fortress in Fontanellato.[6]
Themes
Like Marco Bellocchio's Fists in the Pocket (I pugni in tasca), which was released the following year, Before the Revolution is considered a precursor of the protests of 1968.[7] Luana Ciavola, author of Revolutionary Desire in Italian Cinema, believes that like I pugni in tasca, the film gives the impression of coming from within the bourgeoisie, but at the same time being against it, although notes that the way it approaches revolt differs. He writes of it: "In Prima della rivoluzione the revolt of the protagonist finds support in political commitment. Sustained by an erotic desire, the revolt is fostered by the political ideology that provies a raison d'etre as well as a symbolic terrain through which to articulate the revolt. Even more, the ideology, embodied by Cesare, provides Fabrizio with a superior meaning with which to confront and shape his rebel self. Through ideology, Fabrizio spells out and clarifies his course of revolt and singularity of rebel subject, and eventually his desire for revolt".[7] David Jenkins, the critic from TimeOut, noted as that as in "all of Bertolucci's movies, there's a central conflict between the 'radical' impulses and a pessimistic (and/or willing) capitulation to the mainstream of bourgeois society and culture".[2]
Eugene Archer of The New York Times believes that Bertolucci attempted a "symbolic autobiography" in his classical construction of the film. She highlights loss and defeat as notable themes, with the failure at love symbolizing "a death of the past, an angst-ridden sense of futility in any kind of revolutionary striving, whether emotional, political or merely intellectual, amid the defeat of contemporary society".[3] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian notes that the film displays a "distinctively patrician concern with Catholicism and Marxism".[5] One critic noted how "Bertolucci uses poetic sounds and images to try to communicate emotions and ideas, rather than plot, such as in the disturbing final scene where Fabrizio and Clelia's wedding is intercut with Cesare reading "Moby Dick" to a class of youngsters, as a tearful Gina hugs and kisses".[8]
Release and reception
Before the Revolution premiered on 12 May 1964 at the
The film is cited as "one of the masterpieces of Italian cinema" by Film4, and it is featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, where Colin MacCabe refers to it as "the perfect portrait of the generation who were to embrace revolt in the late 1960s, and a stunning portrait of Parma—Bertolucci's own city".[12] As of May 2015, it has a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 11 reviews.[13] A retrospective of the film was given at the BFI Southbank in London.[11] Eugene Archer of The New York Times notes that Bertolucci used many cinematic references in the film to Italian and French realist master directors such as Roberto Rossellini and Alain Resnais, and managed to "assimilate a high degree of filmic and literary erudition into a distinctively personal visual approach", showing "outstanding promise" as a filmmaker.[3]
David Jenkins of TimeOut, was less favorable, and stated that although it is a "leisurely, verbose and stylish film made by thinkers for thinkers, the film "feels like it’s caught between two stools: it lacks the acute social observation found in Bertolucci’s stunning debut,
Critic John Simon called Before the Revolution "murky, pretentious, and juvenile".[14]
References
- ^ a b c "Before the Revolution". Bertolucci.org. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ a b c Jenkins, David. "Before the Revolution". TimeOut. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ a b c "Festival Surprise". The New York Times. 1964-09-25. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
- ISBN 978-0-87023-569-6.
- ^ a b "Before the Revolution – review". The Guardian. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
- ISBN 978-88-317-9553-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84876-680-8.
- ^ a b "Before the Revolution". TV Guide. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ "Gratis a vedere Bertolucci: le date delle proiezioni" (in Italian). Parma.repubblica.it. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-7486-1168-3.
- ^ a b French, Philip (10 April 2011). "Before the Revolution". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ISBN 978-1-84403-733-9.
- ^ "Before the Revolution". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ Simon, John (1983). John Simon: Something to Declare Twelve Years Of Films From Abroad. Clarkson N. Potter Inc. p. 37.
External links
- Before the Revolution at IMDb