Before The Revolution

Bernardo Bertolucci's 1964 second feature.
Bertolucci is clearly (and quite drum-banging about it) a serious film maker. He has an interest in style, and engages with both aesthetic and political issues, very much of the time. This film does show a genuine wish to develop themes beyond the easy tag lines 'Love's Not A Superstructure', and the conflicting emotions, the conflicting lives.
I found this style extremely difficult to be positive about. There are the zooms and tracks in and out, less showy than 'The Conformist' but still strongly noticeable. There are non-180 cuts, lighting patterns, empty rooms. Perahps the most notable element of style is how much is obscured from us by the relentlessly tight framings, cutting around a lot, of the face. I found it oppressive; endless shots right on the face, not close-ups, that made it difficult to concentrate on anything else, even the dialogue (the poetry seemed too quiet in comparison). The camera almost whips around with this, which, combined with the frequent cuts, we frankly found it very difficult to see what, stylistically, Bertolucci was up to.
As far as the content, there are a couple of perfectly intelligent, though a little clunky, entrances (the cinema conversation...). Immediately, the politics would be to be disagreed with, moping around. The film is aware of this, but I found it difficult to say that the film finally escaped that. Yes, the film knows the leads are weak, but it is ultimately there films.
From the two Bertolucci films I have seen, on first look, there have been a certain lack of positives.