The Dreamers

2003
NC-17
1h 55m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

135K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

323

Louis Garrel, Michael Pitt, and Eva Green in The Dreamers (2003)

Theatrical Trailer from Fox Searchlight Pictures

Play trailer2:30

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99+ Photos

Steamy Romance Drama Romance

A young American studying in Paris in 1968 strikes up a friendship with a French brother and sister. Set against the background of the '68 Paris student riots.A young American studying in Paris in 1968 strikes up a friendship with a French brother and sister. Set against the background of the '68 Paris student riots.A young American studying in Paris in 1968 strikes up a friendship with a French brother and sister. Set against the background of the '68 Paris student riots.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

135K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

323

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 wins & 11 nominations

Self
(as Jean-Pierre Leaud)

Florian Cadiou

Patrick

Pierre Hancisse

First Buff

Valentin Merlet

Second Buff

Lola Peploe

The Usherette

Ingy Fillion

Theo's Girlfriend

Gilbert Adair

Man in the Louvre
(uncredited)

Fred Astaire

Jerry Travers
(archive footage)
(uncredited)

Jean-Paul Belmondo

Michel Poiccard a.k.a. Laszlo Kovacs
(archive footage)
(uncredited)

Charles Chaplin

A Tramp
(archive footage)
(uncredited)

Virginia Cherrill

A Blind Girl
(archive footage)
(uncredited)

Marlene Dietrich

Helen Faraday, aka Helen Jones
(archive footage)
(uncredited)

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
To make the actors feel comfortable and natural in the film's nude scenes, the director Bernardo Bertolucci would encourage them to be totally nude long before the actual shot so they could get used to be naked around each other. Source: Director's commentary on DVD

Goofs
On the walk along the canal, Isabelle states that she "...entered this world on the Champs-Elysees, 1959." She is obviously much older than 9, but she is not referring to her actual birth. She is reciting a speech from Breathless (1960), whose clips are shown.

Quotes
Matthew: Yes, I'm drunk. And you're beautiful. And tomorrow morning, I'll be sober but you'll still be beautiful.

Crazy credits
The word "events" is misspelled in the sentence stating "The wevents, characters and firms depicted in this photoplay are fictitious."

Alternate versions
US R-rated version runs ca. 3 minutes shorter than the uncut NC-17-rated version. The following was cut from the NC-17 version for the R rated version:
45:40/45:40-45:45 Extended shot of Theo kneeing in front of the Marlene Dietrich masturbating while being watched by Isabelle and Matthew. The following shot of Isabelle lacks a second.
45:55/46:00-46:09 The scene with Matthew ends earlier in the R-Rated Version. In the Unrated Version, he's being shown from another angle while he's still masturbating. He slightly hits the wall with the head and touches the picture. The beginning of the following shot of Isabelle moving her head is missing as well.
46:02/46:16-46:29 A moment later, the R-Rated Version ends when Isabelle pets Theo's butt and back with a feather duster. Theo's waving hand can be recognized better here.
46:07/46:34-46:37 The end of the shot of Isabelle is missing and so is the beginning of the following shot of Theo masturbating. The R-Rated Version is back in the game when Theo's coming.
53:42-53:45/54:12-54:20 Alternate footage of Isabelle dropping Matthew's shorts in the R-Rated Version. In the Uncut Version, she drops his shorts and his penis is visible. Furthermore Matthew had a picture of her in his shorts. (7.97 sec) The R-Rated Version contains a close-up of Matthew instead. This exact shot is exclusively in the R-Rated Version. (3.21 sec)
55:03/55:38-55:55 The camera pans over their naked bodies. Isabelle has her hands at Matthew's crotch and supports him to penetrate into her.
55:20/56:12-56:21 Extended shot of Isabelle's face while they're having sex. She moans. The beginning of the following shot a little lower is also missing.
57:05/58:07-58:50 The R-Rated Version stops and goes on with alternate footage of Isabelle when Theo enters the kitchen. The footage is slightly different to the footage a little later in the Uncut Version. Theo slowly goes to Isabelle and Matthew who are still lying lying on the ground. The camera tracks to them over the table. Theo knees down in front of his sister, pets her und touches her vagina. His fingers are bloody and he smiles at her. Then he gets up and Matthew touches her, too. His fingers are also bloody and that is where the R-Rated Version continues.
57:31/59:12-59:41 The R-Rated Version ends when Matthew smudges Isabelle's face with her own blood while they're kissing. They keep kissing, then they hug. The beginning of the following scene is also missing: they're having sex and the camera tracks slowly to the top.
58:42/1:00:52-1:00:59 The camera tracks slowly ober Isabelle's legs to the top, an explicit shot of her vagina included. The R-Rated Version only shows her breasts.
59:17-59:21/1:01:35-1:01:42 The R-Rated Version contains alternate footage of Isabelle when Matthew puts is head next to Isabelle's hip and her pubic hair is visible for a short period. The beginning of Matthew's comment is slightly shorter. (3.67 sec) The NC-17 Version sticks with Matthew. (7.63 sec)
59:27/1:01:49-1:01:59 Earlier beginning of the shot of Matthew. His face is pretty close to Isabelle's pubic area.
59:35/1:02:06-1:02:10 Same here. This time he kisses Isabelle's belly.
1:25:32/1:28:08-1:28:18 Extended shot of Isabelle in the mirror. Then a shot of Matthew's head between Isabelle's legs, under the tied round blanket. Then Isabelle in the mirror again. she really enjoys what Matthew is doing up there. The first frames of the following shot of Matthew are missing as well.

Connections
Featured in Cinema Sex Politics: Bertolucci Makes 'The Dreamers' (2003)

Soundtracks
Third Stone from the Sun
Written and Performed by Jimi Hendrix
Published by Experience Hendrix LLC
(p) 1967 Experience Hendrix LLC/MCA Records
Courtesy of Experience Hendrix LLC
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises & Universal Music Special Projects France

User reviews303

Review

Featured review

8/10

A romantic confession of a great filmmaker

Paris, May 1968. Revolution breaks out and the world seems to be in a critical turning point, but inside the four walls of an apartment, three youngsters experience their very own revolution.

Yes, it's true. In the year 2004, one of the best cinematic experiences is offered by Bertolucci. Many are those who'd thought that he had nothing more to give, but with THE DREAMERS, the creator is reborn and next to his heroes he witnesses again the passage from adolescence and innocence to the age of responsibilities. A great fan of cinema himself, he doesn't hesitate to pay a number of tributes, just like Godard used to do in the past and Tarantino very recently. As he puts his view into the eyes of his protagonists, the girl and the boys seem to live inside the movies they adore. They're playing with lines from known films, they imitate characters, they put themselves into the sequences they love.

Despite their young age, all three actors not only do they show that they're worth of starring in a Bertolucci film, but they also go even further giving in every scene the necessary vividness and realistic tension. Ignoring the cosmogony taking place in the streets, they surrender to their own cosmogonic changes, to the wild sexual awakening, to the game between friendship and love, pleasure and pain. Eventually they commit themselves to the struggle between the game itself and real life. And that's where the heroes violently return in the thrilling final sequences in order to face their duty towards history.

THE DREAMERS is by far one the best motion pictures of the year, so daring but at the same time so energetic that seems able to touch anyone as a pure and romantic confession of a great filmmaker.