Bernardo Bertolucci, the acclaimed Italian film director and screenwriter, has died. His stunning The Last Emperor won all nine Oscars in which it was nominated; The Sheltering Sky was also rapturously received. Less so his earlier controversial erotic Last Tango in Paris with Brando, though after the initial furore it became a classic – with questionmarks because of his treatment of Maria Schneider who later had a breakdown.
He was born 16 March 1941 7.25 pm Parma, Italy, with an artistic and film critic father. Initially he wanted to be a poet and writer but was taken on by film director Pier Paulo Pasolini as an assistant and continued on from there.
He has an exceptionally talented chart with an Earth Grand Trine of Neptune on his Virgo Ascendant in an innovative trine to Uranus in a dynamic trine to Mars in Capricorn, formed into a Kite with Neptune opposition Sun Venus in Pisces – custom designed for the movie business – and poetry.
His Scorpio Moon opposed Jupiter Saturn in Taurus and squared Pluto – very enduring and very earthy.
His Mercury in Pisces is unaspected apart from a quincunx to Pluto, suggesting a single-track mind, capable of brilliance, but not always good at considering alternatives.
His Harmonics are prolific – with strongly aspected creative 5th, 7th and the writers’ 21st Harmonics. His ‘obsessive dream’ 11H is marked; as is his ‘genius/breakthrough’ 13H and leaving-a-legacy 17H. And his global ‘super-star’ 22H.
An exceptional talent.
Another great director also died this week. Nicolas Roeg whose Don’t Look Now and Performance have gone down in the annals of best of British movie-making, shared similar interests to Bertolucci. Ryan Gilbey in the Guardian writes: ‘Their reputations were forged at the forefront of a new kind of transgressive cinema in the 1960s and 70s, in which explicit depictions of sex and desire were a driving dramatic force, rather than X-rated window dressing. Sex in these films isn’t gratuitous titillation but a way of expressing character, motivation and meaning.’
Born 15 August 1928 in London, Roeg started as a teaboy and worked as a cinematographer under David Lean, John Schlesinger and Truffaut before starting to direct.
Like Bertolucci he had a strongly Neptunian chart with his Leo Sun, Mercury, maybe Moon in Leo conjunct Neptune. Both also shared Mars Saturn Venus aspects. Roeg had Mars Node in Gemini opposition Saturn square Venus in Virgo; while Bertolucci had a milder Mars trine Saturn Jupiter, sextile Venus. These three planets together do indicate a hard-edged approach to sexuality and desire, which landed both in trouble with the censors and would not have gone down well in today’s different culture.
He wanted to be a poet….why? According to Rex Bills, poets are ruled by Neptune, Pisces, Venus and Libra.
In his natal chart he has a Sun opposition Neptune. His natal Capricorn Sun is in the dwad of Pisces.
His natal Venus is also in the dwad of Pisces. So many poet signatures would lean him towards poetry.
Each sign of 30 degrees is divided by 12 to give 12 equal segments equal to 2.5 degrees.
From 0 to 2.5 degrees of Capricorn is ruled by Capricorn….2.5 to 5 degrees of Capricorn is ruled by the next sign Aquarius, 5 to 7.5 degree is ruled by Pisces….and so on. So looking at his natal Sun in Capricorn we see that it is in the Pisces dwad. Similarly his natal Venus is in the Pisces dwad.
Dwads reveal our inner drives….his was to be a poet.
Fascinating stuff Morris. Thank you.