Peter Bradshaw’s suggestions that Bertolucci, whose death he reports, was a contemporary of Fellini, Visconti and Pasolini, and that the two former were active in the creation of an “Italian new wave” (Tainted legacy: the brilliant last emperor of cinema, 27 November) are both nonsense. Bertolucci was two when Visconti made his first feature (Ossessione, 1943, the founding film of Italian neorealism) and nine when Fellini directed his first (Lights of Variety, 1950). Pasolini was 19, and a published poet, when Bertolucci was born. Pasolini did come late to filmmaking, with Accattone his first feature (1961, based on his own novel). Thus the notion that his films spearheaded the Italian new wave, in which Bertolucci was a major force, is more valid. Pasolini did invite Bertolucci (also a poet, and son of a poet) to be involved in the production of Accattone, and they subsequently worked together on several films.
James Leahy
London
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