MoMA and Cinecitta Luce celebrate Bernardo Bertolucci with a complete career retrospective
Bernardo Bertolucci
The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters 1 & 2
December 15, 2010 – January 12, 2011
The Museum of Modern Art,
New York
This comprehensive 20-film survey, presented in collaboration with Cinecittà Luce, Rome, celebrates the work of Bernardo Bertolucci, one of the great living practitioners of the art of cinema. All of the prints in this series are newly remastered by Cinecittà Luce, with sound and color correction overseen by several of the cinematographers who have worked with the director, including Vittorio Storaro, Darius Khondji, and Fabio Cianchetti. Featured screenings include The Conformist (1970)—a film that has deeply influenced American filmmakers as diverse as Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg—and a rare presentation of Bertolucci’s documentary Oil (La via del petrolio) (1967), a major rediscovery at the 2007 Venice Film Festival.
At the age of 21, Bernardo Bertolucci debuted at the Venice Film Festival with his first film, La commare secca (The Grim Reaper) (1962); he has since gone on to earn every award and accolade to which a filmmaker can aspire. Tirelessly experimental in form and content, his films have enjoyed both popular and critical acclaim. Renowned for pushing the boundaries and creating works for adventurous audiences, his oeuvre also contains its share of popular blockbusters, including The Last Emperor (1987), which garnered nine Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. Watching the films in this series together, one witnesses Bertolucci’s development as an artist, from grappling with the influence of cinematic trends and filmmaking icons to developing and refining his own voice, and ultimately becoming an enormously influential auteur who creates films of beauty and consequence.
This complete retrospective also includes such revered films as Ultimo tango a Parigi (Last Tango in Paris) (1972), starring Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider; Novecento (1900) (1976) with Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, and Donald Sutherland; The Sheltering Sky (1990) with Debra Winger, John Malkovich, and Campbell Scott; Little Buddha (1993) with Keanu Reeves, Bridget Fonda, and Chris Isaak; Stealing Beauty (1996), with Liv Tyler, Sinéad Cusack, and Jeremy Irons; and The Dreamers (2003), with Michael Pitt, Eva Green, and Louis Garrel.
A full screening schedule is available at MoMA.org/film.
The exhibition is co-produced by the Department of Film of The Museum of Modern Art and Cinecittà Luce, Rome. It is organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film; Camilla Cormanni and Paola Ruggiero, Cinecittà Luce; and Alessandra Bracaglia.
Bernardo Bertolucci is supported by the Cinema Department of the Italian Ministry of Culture and by eni, a major integrated energy company committed to valuing people, environment, and integrity. Special thanks to Alitalia and the Italian Cultural Institute of New York.
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