"Bolognini paints here some striking pictures inspired by Lautrec or Renoir." Télérama

At the beginning of the 20th century, the seamstress Berta leaves her family home to live with Bubu, a baker with whom she is madly in love. When he leaves his job, the couple finds themselves penniless. Bubu asks Berta to prostitute herself, which the young woman accepts out of love. Among her clients, she meets Piero, a student whose sensitivity seduces her. But Berta must face Bubu's increasingly intense jealousy. One day, she tells him that she has syphilis...

A portrait of a woman sold by the man she loves, Bubu de Montparnasse is a work that is both harsh and delicate. By transposing Charles-Louis Philippe's novel to Italy, Mauro Bolognini remains faithful to the reconstruction of the daily lives of prostitutes in 1900, torn between their pimps and the fear of illness. Through the sublime colors of Ennio Guarnieri, the film is an undisguised homage to the Impressionist painters, Renoir and Degas in particular. The tragic fate of Berta, played by the moving and radiant Ottavia Piccolo (Metello), places Bubu de Montparnasse among the great Italian dramas on the condition of women.

BUBU OF MONTPARNASSE
(1971 – Colors – 97 min)
int. for under 12s

DVD edition only

SUPPLEMENTS

. PREFACE BY JEAN A. GILI (9 mins)

. PIERO TOSI, THE CONCERN FOR ACCURACY (21 mins)
An exclusive interview in which the great cinema costume designer Piero Tosi evokes the figure of his friend Mauro Bolognini, for whom he designed the costumes for nine feature films and several short films.

. TRAILER

Released July 7, 2010