The childhood of Italian director-scenarist Bernardo Bertolucci couldn't have been more idyllic. Existing simultaneously in two worlds, he experienced the earthiness of the peasant's life courtesy of his grandfather, padrone of a small farm near Parma, while receiving an equal dose of the refined artistic life from his parents. Yet despite the big, comfortable house, the servants and an atmosphere that encouraged creativity, he would grow up disaffected, chafing against his life of privilege and the tradition of his father's poetry, which he eventually viewed as being based on repression.
Made amateur 16mm films as a teenager, the first one showing a pig being slaughtered
1961
Worked as assistant director to family friend Pier Paolo Pasolini on the latter's feature directing debut, "Accattone"
1962
Published first collection of poems, "In cerca del mistero/In Search of Mystery" (winner of the Viareggio Prize)
1962
Film directing and co-writing (with Pasolini and Sergio Citti) debut, "La commare secca/The Grim Reaper"; shot on location with a cast of nonprofessionals
