Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A recently widowed American begins an anonymous sexual relationship with a young Parisian woman.
Bertolucci's controversial drama is elevated by Brando's raw, improvisatory performance — one of cinema's most visceral — and Vittorio Storaro's lush, amber-drenched cinematography. The film's anonymous-relationship conceit and unflinching exploration of grief, sexuality, and power were genuinely transgressive for their era, giving it strong novelty. The plot is deliberately spare and episodic, which serves the mood but limits narrative momentum. The ending, while tonally consistent, feels abrupt and somewhat unsatisfying on a dramatic level.