Luna (Bernardo Bertolucci: 1979)

[Thorkell A. Ottarsson]

I'm not sure how I feel about this film. It started out great and got
even better in the middle part but then it lost its way. I felt like
Bertolucci wanted to do too much at the same time and in stead of
saying a lot he ended up saying very little about each of the subjects
the film dealt with.

HUGE SPOILERS!!!

The film deals with grief, carrier vs family responsibility, drug
addiction, incest and art. It does none of these justice and it ends
in a blind alley (or worse, with a very traditional message). Are we
to believe that falling in love with ones mother is hereditary? And
what's with the end? Is the message that the son just needed a
authoritative father to find his way. A little slap on the cheek was
all that was needed? That the traditional family was the answer?
Honestly? I feel like Bertolucci chickened out at the end. He flirted
with the taboo of incest but never dared to make anything real out of
it.

Still there are many great scenes in this film and I did like what I
believe Bertolucci set out to make. It is just a shame that he tried
so hard to say so much instead of focusing on a smaller subject and do
it justice. 7/10