Il cinema di Bernardo Bertolucci

“Unicum: an absolutely unique phenomenon, one that is extraordinary and unrepeatable. Bernardo Bertolucci, precisely.”

Film-director Felice Laudadio summed up the uniqueness of Bernardo Bertolucci and his provocative, intensely personal cinema in these words.

This tribute to one of the greatest masters of the seventh art takes us on an exploration of each of Bertolucci’s films, from his directing debut with La commare secca (1962), to The Echo Chambers (2018), a film the director regrettably was never able to shoot. From the sweeping epic blockbuster (The Last Emperor) to the intimate minimalism of an everyday story, from the canons of the nineteenth-century novel (1900) to the scandal of the most transgressive sexuality (Last Tango in Paris), right up to the measured reserve of the chamber play (The Dreamers, Besieged), all are studied with penetrating critical analyses and precious contributions by Bertolucci himself: anecdotes, recollections, and the “making of” insights. A vast collection of hundreds of stunning photos and stills make this work indisputably “unicum”.

• – Spila’s book was the first study on Bertolucci’s cinema to be released after the great director’s passing. It is to-date the only complete overview of the director’s career with an analysis of every film and supplementary sections along with basic details such as cast and credits.
• – What may seem just a detail, but that makes all the difference to film buffs: the book’s rich catalog of photos. These are mainly stills of the films rather than the usual informal shots taken on the set.