BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBB.
Italy, 1970. RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana, Red Film. Screenplay by Bernardo Bertolucci, Eduardo de Gregorio, Marilù Parolini, based on the story Tema del Traidor y del Heroe by Jorge Luis Borges. Cinematography by Franco Di Giacomo, Vittorio Storaro. Produced by Giovanni Bertolucci. Production Design by Maria Paola Maino. Costume Design by Maria Paola Maino. Film Editing by Roberto Perpignani.
Another beautifully photographed political film by Bernardo Bertolucci, this time centring around the story of a man who returns to his father’s village for the first time since his mysterious murder. His arrival is at the request of his father’s former mistress (the still enchanting Alida Valli) who wants him to ask questions and get to bottom of why his father died, when all that is known is that it happened presumably at the hands of a fascist who disagreed with his liberal politics. What the son finds is a village unwilling to participate in the unraveling of the spiderweb-like intrigue, and an eventual truth that might be too hard for any of them to bear. It never allows you to plunge into it completely, but it is diverting and fans of movies like The Nasty Girl should enjoy it.
