Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

I've been kind of busy, and haven't had time to offer my salute to this major contributor to world cinema. His career had its peaks and valleys, but anyone responsible for The Conformist, 1900 and, above all, Last Tango in Paris, merits nothing but approbation.

I will say, if you'd asked me at the end of the 70s who was among those least likely to ever win an Oscar, Bertolucci would easily have come to mind. It's gratifying that even The Academy found a way to honor him, if not for his finest work.

I had the privilege of meeting him, many years ago. A true gentleman, ready to give advice to the young, and with an obvious love for that art called cinema which he had contributed to make great. Also, an Italian intellectual of a kind which doesn't exist anymore.
Today with a colleague we tried to name the (sadly few) great directors of the Golden Age of Italian cinema who are still alive. Wertmuller, Cavani, Argento, one of the Taviani brothers, Zeffirelli... Not many others.

I actually thought Nicolas Roeg had died years ago. Bertolucci comes as a bit of a shock even though I knew he had been ill for a long time.

A much better obituary from The Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/n ... es-aged-77

A man who needs no introduction. Two legendary directors gone within days:

https://variety.com/2018/film/global/be ... 203036077/