The story of three young cinephiles and sexual neophytes coming of age in Paris is captivating material. Based on the novel by Gilbert Adair, Bertolucci tells the story through the eyes of the outsider. Matthew (Michael Pitt), first meets the twins at the locked gates of the Cinematheque Franзais, where Isabelle (Eva Green) strikes the pose of a movie star while Bertolucci adds documentary footage of Jean-Pierre Lйaud with a bull-horn and Franзois Truffaut protesting the forced resignation of Henri Langois.

Matthew, Isabelle, and Theo (Louis Garrel) cocoon themselves in the twin's apartment and test each other through a series of games, acting out favorite scenes from the films that inspire them; in an inspired move of his own, Bertolucci integrates classic scenes seamlessly into the plot: breathless Anna Karina running through the Louvre in Jean-Luc Godard's Band of Outsiders is followed by breathless Eva Green racing the same halls.