Bernado Bertolucci's Novecento

Novecento's highlights are its art direction and photography. If you need a masterclass in either, viewings of Novecento will provide you a fine education. The richness and strength of Novecento lies in these elements. I don't think length, as one poster noted, is an issue for Novecento. It's long but each scene is meaningful and the rhythm is just right.


I disliked the black-and-white categorizations of the characters - Olmo as a noble Socialist. Attila (what a subtle name too, right?) as the evil Fascist with homicidal sadism to boot. Alfredo is wishy washy padrone who can't figure out what to believe and chooses the easiest path life gives him. And of course, being a Bertolucci film, their sexual lives represent who they are as human beings, especially with Attila.


I find it amusing that Leone thought Bertolucci was too cerebral to write Once Upon a Time in the West - his films are often overloaded with simplistic ideological intentions and heavy-handed symbolism. He has cerebral concerns certainly, but his films lack the intellectual complexity and subtlety to truly be cerebral. I think Tarkovsky fits the bill of the intellectual auteur far more than Bertolucci.