The three central performances are clever and insightful, insinuating and textured. Pitt is especially good, sympathetic and magnetic as always; while Garrel and Green are tantalisingly mysterious. Bertolucci films it beautifully, interweaving classic film clips and references as well as flashes of black humour and honest sensuality. As it progresses all starts to get rather housebound--ingrown and yucky. But then Matthew, Isabelle and Theo are housebound, ingrown and yucky! These are thoughtless young people trying to find meaning in life ... and failing at every attempt.

There's a clever juxtaposition between this trio's aimless idealism indoors and the much more focussed anger outside. And in the way Matthew, Isabelle and Theo circle around each other, shifting liaisons and expanding each others' limits, Bertolucci and Adair (who based the script on his novel The Holy Innocents) touch on some intriguing ideas. But to call this a menage a trios is hugely misleading, because the film completely avoids the two links in the chain that might cause real controversy--namely homosexuality and incest. These are only hinted at flirtatiously, never dealt with at all. And this refusal to grapple with the issues on everyone's mind undermines the film's pretentious approach. Despite the gorgeous direction, it's like Bertolucci thinks he's making a brave, bold statement about idealism and sexuality, but then he chickens out and says nothing about either.