ME AND YOU (IO E TE) is the first film in nine years from Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci, best known for THE CONFORMIST, LAST TANGO IN PARIS and THE LAST EMPEROR. He also cast a pre-MATRIX Keanu Reeves as LITTLE BUDDHA, a decision that caused cinema audiences to exclaim ‘whoa!’ His last film, THE DREAMERS (2003), based on a novel by Gilbert Adair, who also wrote the screenplay, introduced cinemagoers to Eva Green in, well, not very much. She subsequently achieved fame in CASINO ROYALE, DARK SHADOWS and, er, THE GOLDEN COMPASS.
But what of Bernardo? It turns out he did his back in. That and he couldn’t get projects off the ground – well, it’s difficult to bend over when you injure your back. But in 2011, he made the wonderful discovery – he could make films sitting down. And in 2013, I made a wonderful discovery – ME AND YOU. I’d go out on a limb – have to be a pretty sturdy limb, mind – that it is one of the ten best releases of the year.
It is based on a novel by Niccolò Ammaniti about a fourteen year old loner, Lorenzo (newcomer Jacopo Olmi Antinori) who decides that he does not want to go on a school trip. Why? Well, his mama and papa are no longer together. Lorenzo is eager from an opinion from his old man, something supportive, but the impression that he gets from his mother is that he doesn’t care much. In a restaurant with her, he plays a little game. ‘You and me, we could be a couple!’ Clearly, he has Oedipal issues. Mama is disgusted – he hasn’t touched his pasta.
But seriously, Lorenzo plans his week of solitude with meticulous attention to detail. Cola? Check! Nutella? Got it! Water? You bet. Ant farm? Did he say ant farm?
Yes, Lorenzo spends his mother’s money that is designated for his trip on these supplies and the aforementioned pet – he contemplates buying an armadillo but they cost an armadillo and a leg! No, I won’t give up my day job.
Pinching the caretaker’s basement key, he gets a copy made and then replaces it. He has his departure immaculately planned, lying to his grandmother in the process, but then mama insists on seeing him off. Lorenzo’s hissy fit is familiar to any parent of a teenager, but here we totally understand what’s behind it. We the audience want him to have his week in the dark.
So he stomps away from his mother, not saying goodbye and bypasses the school bus. Then he sneaks back to his building, turns the key and finds a palace of discarded possessions. He arranges furniture in storage and makes a home.
He receives an unexpected visitor, his attractive older half-sister, Olivia (Tea Falco) – same father, different mom. She wants an item of jewellery (or something) but it’s gone. Never mind. She decides to stay with Lorenzo. She has a drug habit. He can help her go cold turkey. If she cleans up her act, she can live somewhere else. Lorezo helps her reluctantly. In the process, they learn about each other and the relationship of their parents. There’s the threat of incest and an Italian version of ‘Space Oddity’ sung by David Bowie. (Well, it beats ‘Who says we’re wack?’) But there is emotional truth.
As to what happens next, my fingers refuse to type it. The film has been described as slight by some, but to me it represents a real adventure, fending for oneself for the first time, dealing with real adult issues. Plus Olivia’s artwork is quite cool.
If you are looking for evidence of Bertolucci the auteur, consider the following. He makes films about couples stuck in rooms, from Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider in LAST TANGO IN PARIS, through John Lone as Pu Yi in THE LAST EMPEROR to David Thewlis and Thandie Newton in BESIEGED. Even Eva Green gets stuck in an apartment in THE DREAMERS at one point, with that rascal Louis Garrel.
Did I say the performances were grippingly naturalistic?
I was thoroughly gripped and I daresay you will be too, especially if like me, you are a fan of films about childhood. I would put it alongside ET – THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL, LES QUATRE CENT COUPS and the recent LORE – it really is that good. It opens in UK cinemas on April 19. I hope you Americans get it soon.
