Bernardo Bertolucci (1940–2018) was an Italian film director who was considered one of the masters of international filmmaking. His extravagant, poetic epics frequently dealt with the conflict between the personal and the political.
Bertolucci made some of the momentous films of the modern era. He is best known for his movie Last Tango in Paris (1972,) the erotic content of which created an international uproar. Fifteen years later, Bertolucci gained his utmost international achievement with The Last Emperor (1987,) which won nine Oscars. It was the first Western movie China allowed to be filmed in Beijing’s Forbidden City.
Bertolucci was born in Parma, studied at the University of Rome, and was an amateur filmmaker and poet. His collection of poetry, In cerca del mistero (1962, ‘In Search of Mystery,’) won the Premio Viareggio Prize. He made his directorial debut the same year with La commare secca (‘The Grim Reaper.’)
Following the success of Il conformista (1970; The Conformist) and Ultimo Tango a Parigi (1972; Last Tango in Paris,) Bertolucci made the Marxist epic Novecento (1976; 1900.) He won Best Director and Best Screenplay Academy Awards for the epic The Last Emperor (1987.)
Other films include The Sheltering Sky (1990,) Little Buddha (1993,) Stealing Beauty (1996,) The Dreamers (2003,) and Me and You (2012.)
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Sometimes you are in sync with the times, sometimes you are in advance, sometimes you are late.
—Bernardo Bertolucci
I am still against any kind of censorship. It’s a subject in my life that has been very important.
—Bernardo Bertolucci
Topics: Censorship
I left the ending ambiguous, because that is the way life is.
—Bernardo Bertolucci
Topics: Ending
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