The life of a two friends living in a small town in Italy. One is from a wealthy, landowning family. His life will be rich with excess, money and power. Sex and drugs will be his vice. The other is from a poor family that have many and he will have to work. Work hard to live, eat, breathe and breed. Toiling the land of the other in order to keep the wolf from the door. 50 years will pass and we will see war, politics and revolution across boths world and in that time much will change and the world will never be the same again.

Bertoluccis masterpiece of history, politics and people constructs the world of 1900s -1945s Italy into a cinema dream. Now it might be bum numbing at its full 5hours but it is joyful in its skill and creativity. Obviously visually stunning with Storaros cinematography truely capturing the painters eye of Bernardo. It is also compelling written and this captures Bernardos inner poet, which is helped with great perfromances from De Niro, Depardieu and Sutherland all adding tones and range. Also it must be commended for its production values which are extra ordinary and show how cinema once was ambitious and intellegent.

The areas of interest for me however are the controversial point and the length. The real sex that will put some off and shouldnt. This is history of truth and as such will not shy away from its reality. Please remember this and prepare for these scenes as they are to challenge and not to simply exploit. The length is another matter and it is long and a hard watch but very much worth it. Take my word for it please 5 hours can be split in two and then you can explore the additional elements.