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Of all of the wonderful things one can do with butter, Marlon Brando seems to have found the most creative, and certainly the least fattening use in Bernardo Bertolucci’s the 1972 film “Last Tango in Paris.”
The controversial film is about two lovers’ anonymous meetings in a Paris apartment starring Brando and the infamously sexy French actress Maria Schneider. Their strange relationship is without names, without a history and without a care for the real world outside of the apartment.
Bertolucci’s story of the relationship between an aging American man and a supple young French woman is extremely shocking, but it’s Brando’s improvised dialogue and personal stories that are the most interesting part of the film.
Stories from his character’s childhood and others about his past are actually stories from Brando’s childhood or even stories about his characters from other films.
Brando is beyond brilliant in this film when it comes to creating his own dialogue, but apparently Brando fell short when it came to memorizing his lines.
In one of the most interesting stories about the making of the film, it is said that because he could not memorize his lines they were sometimes taped to the naked body of Schneider.
Brando’s bizarre demeanor mixed with Schneider’s raw sexuality is perfect for on-screen sparks.
It doesn’t seem right that the two would mesh so well together, but there is no way to even imagine the film without them. Their unstable and crazy personalities are just the right combination to make the scandalous story work.
Brando may be better known for being an eccentric actor, but Schneider and her actions after the film were odd, to say the least.
This included refusing to appear nude and pulling out of film projects, being fired from a Luis Buñuel film and checking herself into a mental hospital with her female lover. On top of this she has been quoted saying that she felt manipulated by Bertolucci when making “Last Tango,” even counting him as one of her enemies.
There are plenty of interesting stories to tell behind the making of the film, but when it comes down to it, it really is a great movie.
To give too much away about plot outline would be wrong because the initial shock of seeing the film is too great of an experience. It’s one that audiences need to see with an open mind and without a clue as to what is going to happen. It’s the only way to see it.
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