When I first watched The Dreamers, I had already seen most of the films the characters discuss (which, I think, greatly enhances ones enjoyment of the film). Bertolucci was in contact with most of the auteurs of the French New Wave and had a famous, decades-long feud with Jean-Luc Godard over the question of whether a film could be truthful and beautiful at the same time. Bertolucci's entire career can be understood as an effort to prove that point.

Another movie about the love of movies you might consider viewing is Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988).