Bernardo Bertolucci

When I think classic Italian cinema, I think films that are quite loud, nervous and chaotic. There's almost none of that here. The cinematography is very stylish, the soundtrack is surprisingly beautiful and the performances are relatively subdued, what makes for a pleasant, moody atmosphere.

I will say that the first half is noticeable better than the second one. It gets more overtly political near the end, which is where the film lost some of its appeal for me. By then I was already more than content to have seen a rather calm, breezy and stylish film with a handful of memorable moments. That's more than I expected going in.

The film details the life of the last emperor of China, from the day he rose to power, to his involvement in the Japanese takeover of Manchuria and his imprisonment afterwards. It's not the most historically correct adaptation of his life, then again there's a reason why Bertolucci had so much freedom shooting his film on location.

This feels like a Hollywood production in almost every way. It's an epic tale for sure, but the not-quite-there cinematography, the ill-fitting soundtrack and the English language all increase the disconnect with what is supposed to be a film about China. It's certainly not all bad, but not at all what it should've been.

A middle-aged man whose wife just killed herself and a young girl ready to start her life hook up with each other. Both aren't looking for a romantic relationship, instead they need each other to escape from reality. It's a decent setup, but there isn't much more to it than that. Bertolucci simply explores the relationship between these two.

Schneider and Brando aren't really fit for their parts. Schneider feels ill at easy, Brando's emotional outbursts are borderline embarrassing. That immediately kills the film, as a lot hinges on the appeal and/or intrigue of their characters, which never materializes. The cinematography and score aren't that interesting either and the pacing is slow, but at least the Parisian atmosphere gave the film a little flair.

The saddest part was that many of the short didn't even deal with the future, but openly referred to or praised the medium's past. There's also a lot of doom and gloom, with some very basic visions of people not caring enough about arthouse cinema, or playing movies on their phones. Your typical old-man-yelling-at-cloud stuff.

There is only a small selection of directors who seem to have understood the brief, and they struggle to make the most of their limited runtime. What remains is a complete mess, with most shorts looking like they were made on people's afternoon off, and hardly anything that stands out. A disappointment.