Bertolucci returns to the screen with the drama "Me and You"

SAO PAULO, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Away from filmmaking since 2003, when he directed "The Dreamers," due to serious spinal problems—which left him paraplegic—the award-winning Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci has finally returned to filmmaking, delivering "Me and You," a very contemporary teen drama, freely adapting the novel by Niccolò Ammaniti.

It's a cautious return, in which one senses that Bertolucci is seeking a dialogue with the audience, in which he has been successful, since the film was a hit in Italian cinemas last year.

The director remains interested in youthful impulses, here confronting two half-siblings, Lorenzo (newcomer Jacopo Olmo Antinori) and Olivia (Tea Falco). They share the same father, but barely see each other due to the unresolved conflict between their mothers.

Lorenzo and Olivia end up spending a few days together, when the boy hides in the basement of his own building, lying to his mother about going on a school trip. Prepared to enjoy a few days of solitude, he is surprised to receive a visit from his sister, who suffers from severe drug addiction and tries to isolate herself from her problems.

Using this basement as a virtually unused setting and focusing on the two characters, the director creates atmosphere and expectations. At times, it seems like nothing is going to happen. At others, the brink of tragedy looms, especially as Olivia's withdrawal symptoms worsen.

In this way, Bertolucci keeps viewers engaged in the fate of the two brothers. While it's a small story, it's brimming with big questions.

The 73-year-old director clearly questions who these young people of today are, portraying with affectionate interest their close connection to technology and their fixation on drugs, different from but also in some ways similar to the more politically engaged protagonists of "The Dreamers," set in 1968.

The two young actors, in turn, embody their roles with great energy, serving the story with a truth that is also their own.

While acknowledging the film's qualities, which could well serve as a metaphor for an Italy isolated within itself, one must ultimately concede that it is not Bertolucci's best work of all time. Even so, this new work does not diminish the veteran director's impressive resume, which includes works such as "1900" (1998), "The Last Emperor" (winner of nine Oscars in 1988), and "The Conformist" (1970).

The box office success of "Me and You" in Italy suggests that the film may have introduced him to new generations. The good news is that the filmmaker promises to film again soon. It's good to have him back.

(By Neusa Barbosa, from Cineweb)