A Tribute to Trintignant

In Mussolini’s Italy, repressed Jean-Louis Trintignant, trying to purge memories of a youthful, homosexual episode—and murder—joins the Fascists in a desperate attempt to fit in. As the reluctant Judas motors to his personal Gethsemane (the assassination of his leftist mentor), he flashes back to a dance party for the blind; an insane asylum in a stadium; and wife Stefania Sandrelli and lover Dominique Sanda dancing the tango in a working-class hall. And those are only a few of the breathtaking setpieces in Bernardo Bertolucci’s masterpiece. – adapted from notes from the Film Forum