Abstract
The paper describes how Bertolucci took up the challenge of making a film about Tibetan Buddhism, more than making a contribution to our knowledge of it. The paper asserts that the film is beautifully made but plays to a New Age/keen Western audience. The paper discusses how every so often, there is a new appeal of Asian religions in the West of which early 1990s was such a time.

From the Paper
"The 1990s will be recalled as a time of renewed Western interest in Buddhism and for a number of films addressing different religions. "Little Buddha" seems made for an American or at least Western audience and may not appeal to a person who knows a good deal of Buddhism or the allegory concerning the life of Siddhartha. However, the cinematography is often appealing, and "Little Buddha" will continue to appeal to viewers for different reasons, not the least of which is a beautifully prepared film. It is not a film that will inspire or educate a well informed person or a..."

Tags:bertolucci, little buddha, analysis

Abstract
This paper looks at the representation of fascism within the film medium of "1900". The paper looks at how films re-vision historical events and themes through close analysis of the portrayal of fascism in the film. The paper looks at Bertolucci himself, his views and beliefs and whether or not he challenges or advocates historical myths and assumptions.

From the Paper
"Bertolucci was born in Parma, Italy in 1940. His father encouraged his love of film, being amongst many things a film critic, and history professor , while his mother, whom Bertolucci described as "the most mysterious person in my life" , played a rather remote role within the family. Bertolucci has created a number of films, many enjoying commercial and critical success. Bertolucci's films often make political comments, furthermore 1900, despite being funded by two major American film companies ironically displays communist sentiment. 1900 re/visions the class struggle between the peasants and the landowners within 75 years of Italian history. This is captured within a four and a half hour long 'epic', exploring the relationship between two boys born on the same day from different class structures and foregrounding the rise of fascism and socialist resistance in Italy. Arguably film is the chief carrier of historical messages , being more accessible than novels or history books. However, film is perhaps the most problematic means of historical representation. Hollywood films attempt to make profit, thus they strive to entertain, win awards, and to a much lesser extent educate. 1900 is not a Hollywood film, and despite having big name actors , the film by no means follows typical Hollywood conventions. Historical films 're/vision' history; they transcend the 'linear, analytic and scientific' , and often move beyond absolute realism. They provide a vision which is subject to the value systems and motives of the filmmaker and the period in which the film was made. Through close examination of 1900, Bertolucci's revisioning of the understanding of Fascism is clearly displayed."

Tags:1900, bernardo, bertolucci, communism, fascism, film, history, italian, italy, socialism

From the Paper
"Pu Yi, the last Emperor of China, holds a curious place in the annals of history. As the final representative of the Manchu Dynasty, his place is secured in Chinese records as the very undramatic end to the imperial era. Pu Yi's essentially non-existent rule takes on a greater significance only because of post factum interest in the ruler as a person. Pu Yi is "The Last Emperor," the final imperial occupant of the famed Forbidden City, a man whose luxurious lifestyle as a child was replaced by the grey world of the gardener in Mao's Red China.
During the mid 1980s, Bernardo Bertolucci, an Italian film director of international repute and admittedly leftist leanings, sought - and won - permission from the Chinese Communist government to shoot a motion picture about Pu Yi inside China, indeed, inside the Forbidden City. With funding from Columbia..."

Abstract
This paper provides an analysis of Bernardo Bertolucci's film "The Last Emperor." The analysis focuses on how the life of the last emperor Puyi demonstrates the grandeur as well as the excesses of royal life and how Puyi is a symbol and victim of a bygone era.

From the Paper
"Bernardo Bertolucci's film 'The Last Emperor' offers the biography of Puyi the last official emperor of dynastic China. Puyi first ascended the Dragon Throne in the Forbidden City at the age of three and abdicated by the age of seven. Ultimately he was thrown out of the Forbidden City in ... by warlord Feng Yuxiang. In his review of Bertolucci's movie film critic Roger Ebert maintains that the director uses the life of Puyi as a mirror that reflects China's passage from feudalism through revolution to ..."

Tags:communism, revolution, Japanese, foreigners, eunuchs, isolation, politics

Abstract
The analysis demonstrates how Clerici is haunted by his past and his desire to forget it by becoming a conformist is the means of ruining his happiness in the present and future.

From the Paper
"Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Conformist" was released in ... and as the title suggests, it portrays the forces of conformity on protagonist, Marcello Clerici, a.k.a. Jean Louis Trintignant, in an era of fascism in Italy. Although the pressures to conform in Mussolini Italy are significant, Marcello's dilemma is wrought by the pressures of the past on the future. A sexual trauma in Marcello's youth haunts his present to a significant degree, driving him both by what he wants to forget and by what he believes he needs."

Tags:sexual abuse, fascism, Italy, Mussolini, betrayal, trauma