"“A provocative and unassuming piece...”"

At 73 years of age, there are few directors in world cinema that come with the pedigree of the double Academy Award winning filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci – and the man behind the likes of The Last Emperor and Last Tango in Paris, returns with his first feature film for a decade, with his sweet and charming drama Me and You.

We delve into the hapless livelihood of introverted teenager Lorenzo (Jacopo Olmo Antinori), who passes on a school skiing trip, and although telling his mother he has gone away – he then proceeds to move into the basement, with enough food to last him the week. However his desire for some alone time and solitude is soon disrupted when his half-sister Olivia (Tea Falco) drops by, hoping to use this tranquil environment as a place where she can overcome her heroin addiction. The unlikely pair aren't compatible in any way, yet an affecting relationship between the two transpires, as it seems that they can both help each other much more than they had initially imagined.

To begin with we see Lorenzo walking against the crowd at his school, barging his way through hoards of people. Instantly we know what we are dealing with, as a kid who quite simply doesn't fit in – and with a naïve curiosity in life, asking his mother whether she would reproduce with him if they were the last two people on Earth, he comes across a sadistic Napoleon Dynamite. However despite perceiving him in a somewhat demented way, he's actually just quite lonely, and is in fact a somewhat tragic case, and his quirky idiosyncrasies are endearing. You may be unsure about him at first, but he really grows on you – and much credit must go to Olmo Antinori who is superb at playing the role incredibly earnestly, managing to depict both the unbalanced and charming aspects to his character's demeanour.

Me and You is the tale of a quite beautiful bringing together of two very different people bound together only by blood (and a few issues), as we explore how they can both help the other change for the better, although doing so subconsciously. Bertolucci tactfully makes the viewer believe that the arrival Olivia is presenting the audience with a “normal” character, to counteract Lorenzo, however she is just as unconventional as her brother, as the pair are equally as messed up as the other, just in completely different ways.

There are also shades of a sexual tension between the pair – and incest is a theme Bertolucci explored in great depth in his previous feature Dreamers. The director sexualises Olivia, even after she throws up on herself, she undresses slowly and delicately, as we zoom in to her bare thighs. Even Lorenzo's mother (Sonia Bergamasco) is youthful and attractive, as we enter into a somewhat Freudian situation, in a film that despite the simplistic premise, is an extremely multilayered piece of cinema.

The one thing that does stick with you most from this film however, is the wonderful soundtrack and how well Bertolucci implements it into his story. Similarly to the hugely memorable scene in Dreamers featuring the Bob Dylan track Queen Jane Approximately – in Me and You there are equally as unforgettable scenes featuring the music of The Cure, Radiohead and David Bowie. The majority of songs we hear are that of what Lorenzo is listening to on his headphones, allowing the audience to enter into his private world for a brief moment.

Me and You is a subtle and touching production, and although nothing particularly outstanding – especially when in comparison to the filmmakers illustrious body of work – it's a provocative and unassuming piece, and if this is Bertolucci's final ever film, it's fair to say he has ended on a high note.