Luna

Bernardo Bertolucci was no stranger to controversy or provocation when he made Luna (titled La Luna in Europe), a 1979 drama about an uncomfortably intimate and even briefly incestuous relationship between troubled teenager Joe (Matthew Barry) and his opera singer mother Caterina (Jill Clayburgh)—a jet-setting, high-living diva who has spoiled Joe all his life. When Caterina's husband (Fred Gwynne) suddenly dies, she takes Joe from Manhattan to Italy, where she has a summer engagement in Rome and he is left to numb his loss in heroin addiction. But her maternal protectiveness crosses the line into sexual intimacy as she tries to ease his pain. Clayburgh plays Caterina as a sensuous woman with larger-than-life passions, befitting her status as diva, while Barry (in his feature debut) is angry and emotionally combustible as Joe, seeking his mother's attention but lashing out when he feels slighted. The themes of drug abuse and incest were controversial at the time and are still queasy to watch, but the film also has a dreamy, drifting quality and Bertolucci pushes the emotional states of his characters to extremes in a mix of operatic melodrama and art-house psychoanalysis. The trip to Italy becomes a healing journey, as Joe tracks down his birth father (Tomas Milian) in a nearby town and attempts a reconciliation. Luna was initially poorly received but is now considered a flawed but fascinating work of great beauty and emotional power. Extras include audio commentaries and interviews. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)