Bernardo Bertolucci and 1900

This chapter is an interview with the Italian filmmaker, Bernardo Bertolucci, discussing his film, 1900, at the New York Film Festival. Bertolucci alludes to his quarrels with Paramount Pictures about the unwieldy length of his epic drama, and about his choice to cast American movie stars like Robert De Niro and Burt Lancaster as turn-of-the-century Italians. He talks of the rampant sexuality of his new film and also about objections of feminists to his previous work, The Last Tango in Paris. He speaks of his attempts to secure an “R” rating instead of an “X” for his film, 1900, and of his being a proud member of the Italian Communist Party.