![]() ![]() But over the weekend, a clip of director Bernardo Bertolucci talking about the scene resurfaced, setting off wide media attention and sparking outrage in Hollywood. Yet as a leading supporter of scandal-hit fellow directors Roman Polanski and Woody Allen, the first embroiled in a long-running rape case and the latter hit by child abuse claims, Bertolucci had increasingly become a target of feminist ire.Nearly a decade ago, Maria Schneider revealed the unsettling details surrounding an infamous rape scene in the 1972 drama Last Tango in Paris, in which Marlon Brando's character uses butter as a lubricant before forcing himself on her. In the latest poll of the best films ever made by the prestigious Sight & Sound magazine, Last Tango came in at number 894, with just one critic voting for it.īertolucci, who had something of a reputation as a "discoverer of young actresses" such as Liv Tyler and Eva Green, hit back that he was shocked by the naivety of people who didn't realize that "sex is (almost) always simulated in films".Įven so, the director had reportedly declared himself a supporter of the #MeToo movement. The film's reputation has been badly hit by the controversy. Hollywood star Jessica Chastain, who would later play a leading role in the #MeToo and Time's Up movement, tweeted: "To all the people that love this film - you're watching a 19-year-old get raped by a 48-year-old man. ![]() Then she hated me for all of her life."īertolucci caused further fury in 2016 when a video surfaced of him admitting that he and Brando came up with the idea for the butter on the morning of the shoot. I didn't want Maria to act her humiliation, her rage, I wanted Maria to feel. "To obtain something I think you have to be completely free. I think she hated me and also Marlon because we didn't tell her. The Italian director said he wanted to get capture the real reaction of "a girl" at being raped by a much older man. Read also: 'Last Tango In Paris' director Bertolucci dies She was too young to take the impact of the unexpected and brutal success of the film," he added. "Maria accused me of stealing her youth and its only now that I ask myself if she wasn't half right. When she died in 2011, Bertolucci admitted that he "should have apologized" for his treatment of her, and that he felt horrible "in a way" about it. "He was fat and sweaty and very manipulative, both of Marlon and myself, and would do certain things to get a reaction from me," Schneider insisted. Yet Schneider went on to make some 50 movies and became an advocate for women's and actors' rights, walking off the set of Caligula in 1974 reportedly declaring, "I am an actress, not a prostitute". The actress, who later attempted suicide, was traumatized by the film, according to her cousin Vanessa Schneider, who has just published an account of her life, cut short by cancer at age 58. After the scene, Marlon didn't console me or apologize. "I felt humiliated and to be honest I felt a little raped, both by Marlon and by Bertolucci. Marlon said to me: 'Maria, don't worry, it's just a movie.' But during the scene, even though what Marlon was doing wasn't real, I was crying real tears. Read also: 'Last Tango in Paris' rape scene revelation sparks outrage "I should have called my agent or had my lawyer come to the set because you can't force someone to do something that isn't in the script," she said later. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |