The Eccles Center was buzzing long before I was seated. Celebrities were packing themselves in, and the excitement in the air was palpable. Geoff Gilmore, the Program Director for the festival, introduced Jeremy Thomas, the producer, and Michael Pitt, the lead actor. They introduced a short video message from Bertolucci, who was in London, unable to fly because of a bad back. He introduced the film, talked about how much he regretted not being able to be present, and how pleased he was with Fox Searchlight’s decision to release the film uncut. He finished the message by saying, to thunderous applause, the same sentiment from his press statement a week ago, “I have always felt that an orgasm is better than a bomb.”

The lights went down, the stage sufficiently set for a very special evening.

And what an evening it was. I loved every frame of this film. Every moment, every silence, is full of possibility, anticipation, joy. The characters are well-developed, and fully realized, having debates and discussions about that which is most important to them: movies, music, and politics… In that order.

The plot, as it is, concerns Matthew, an American in 1968 Paris, a time and place bubbling over with tension and conflict. The particulars of just whom the conflict is between, and the historical context of the story was lost on me, as I am not familiar with the history of the revolution going on in Paris at the time. But the story isn’t really about that, just as “Titanic” is not about a boat sinking. The Paris Revolution is merely the backdrop for a subtle, deeply complicated relationship between Matthew, and siblings Theo and Isabelle, which takes place over a month in Theo and Isabelle’s parents’ apartment.

As the story begins, the government has closed down the Cinematheque, the one theater in Paris which shows the widest variety of films, to a young, frenzied audience of students craving entertainment outside of the norm. This is where Matthew gets his real education while in Paris, and it is where he spends most of his time. Because of this, he is spotted by Theo and Isabelle, two fellow devotees of the Cinematheque. When the theater is closed down, and the siblings’ parents go out of town for a full month, they invite Matthew to stay with them, and he accepts.

Theo and Isabelle are close. Extremely close. Suspiciously close. They are rarely without each other, bathing together, and even sleeping together. Naked. “We are Siamese twins,” explains Theo to Matthew. “Joined at the mind.” Yet, for all of the incestuous undertones, there is really something deeper and more innocent going on, at least… At first there is.

As Matthew spends more and more time with them, and they ruminate on movies, quiz each other on famous scenes, and movie lines (with very strange penalties for blowing a challenge), and debate politics while sharing a bathtub, he begins to fall in love with the both of them. He treats them as one person, and loves that one person with unlimited passion. (Yes, that would mean there are also homoerotic undertones, but they are given the same amount of weight as the incestuous ones, meaning they’re there, but not really all that overt)

The Dreamers is a brilliant work by a master storyteller. Although this is a story of human connection, not of action, there is not a single slow moment, not a story beat that feels out of place, and not a single shot (including the graphic sex, which I will address in a moment) that is unnecessary, or goes on too long.

Much has been made of the sexual content of this film, and really, I was expecting far worse. For the prurient and the curious, I will say that there are plenty of penises on parade, and that Eva Green (as Isabelle) spends a fair amount of the film in the altogether. As for actual sex acts… well, nothing as graphic as The Brown Bunny, that’s for damned sure. There is a male masturbation scene, which I believe we’ve all seen before, and in much more graphic form. There is a lot of sex going on, but {SPOILERS} it’s really only between Matthew and Isabelle. Sorry to disappoint all those who were hoping for some brother-on-sister or guy-on-guy action. It’s just not there.{END SPOILERS} As I said before, there is not a scene that even gets close to being unnecessary, and not a shot that goes on too long. {MORE MINOR SPOILERS} In fact, one of the key events that happens… Well, it’s a sex scene, and, oddly enough, it’s the one sex scene that occurs off-screen, leaving everything to the imagination, for understandable effect. After seeing all of that sex earlier in the film, it’s ironic, and even a little brilliant that the most important sex scene is glimpsed in aftermath only.{END SPOILERS}

The dynamic between these three characters, where it goes, and how it ultimately redeems and destroys their relationship, I will leave you to see for yourself. This is an important film, a moving exploration of politics, popular culture, and passion, and what happens when all three collide. Each of the three characters makes a clear moral choice of some kind at the end of the film, and each person’s choice is understandable, heartbreaking, and permanent. This movie will make your heart swell with emotion, both with its passionate highs, and tragic lows.

-Opie

P.S. I’ll be writing more reviews later today. I have yet to write up NEVERLAND, MARIE AND BRUCE, and WE DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE. I know I promised you guys a review of SAW, but… Well, I got invited to a big party, what the hell was I to do?

P.P.S. You may want to put the (labeled) spoilers in Inviso-text, if that’s at all possible. One talkbacker bitched that I ruined one of the earliest scenes in “Haute tension” for him by describing the severed-head blowjob. Ooooohhhhh….. I guess it’s a good thing that I didn’t mention that… -- Opie out.