Last Tango in Paris

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Junior S @RT39899143 Aug 22 One of the greatest movies ever made, featuring one of the greatest performances by an actor, Marlon Brando, and probably his personal best. Bertolucci achieves masterpiece level cinema in direction, camera movement, and especially framing ;filled with beautiful cinematography. The movie features an unlikely and carnally opportune relationship, seemingly arranged by the whim of the stars and the caprice of human sexuality. The relationship between Brando and Schneider, unique in its arrangement, is meant to strip all convention and pretense, leaving it raw, bare. Somehow this makes it more true, more honest. In this way, their self abasement is no longer abasement, it’s a living out of the most real feeling, the most real impulses. When Brando, the orchestrator of the arrangement, begins to change, to fall back into convention—-another more easy truth—-the movie ends the only way it can. Are the final words spoken by Schneider a defense? An attempt to convince? Or a prayer. See more Daniela V @dbarx24 Jul 9 Last Tango in Paris is one of cinema's most controversial films, not only because of its explicit content but also because of the ethical discussions surrounding its production. Beyond the controversy, it is an intimate character study of grief, emotional isolation, and self-destruction. Marlon Brando delivers a deeply vulnerable performance, though the film's legacy is inevitably overshadowed by the well-documented abuse suffered by actress Maria Schneider during filming. It remains historically significant, but also impossible to separate from the circumstances under which it was made. See more Alec B @Alec97 May 8 This has been noted by many others but the question that looms large here is whether or not we can divorce our sexual desires from ourselves. The aparment space shared by Paul and Jeanne is something of a nebulous zone with items of furniture but no sense of life or living. Paul insists on "no names" but of course these rules about having no connection to the outside world almost immediately fall apart. Its a fantasy, this idea that sex could be something separate and compartmentalized. Its part of who we are. It's crucial that Paul is experiencing a serious crisis in his real life and that Jeanne is just beginning to explore what it means to be an adult when they become entangled. In a way its a very old story and one that still plays out today. If anything keeps this out of masterpiece territory, its Brando's admittedly uneven performance (although he nails those final moments) and the unfair distribution of full frontal nudity. See more David H @DavidHHH May 5 As a product of its time it says some interesting things. But really, the story doesn't age at all well. Older man in existential crisis seeks no-strings-attached solace in the body of a pretty young girl... What could possibly go wrong, eh? See more Jack F @MovieFan111 Dec 11 One of the worst movies I've seen. It was soooo boring! I mean, I guess it could be NC-17, but there really wasn't that much sex at all. I went into it thinking much worse. I didn't even understand what the hell was going on. I haven't seen too many Marlon Brando movies, so it was interesting to see this one. Lame!!!! See more Alain E @AlainE Nov 19 Overall, I don’t think it has aged well, but it remains, along with Antonioni’s The Passenger, the best roles of Maria Schneider. I have read the condemnation that she wrote years later and I am not convinced. Definitely she didn’t appear traumatized in the remaining of the movie and in the end she delivers quite a harsh punishment. The scene itself, I don’t think it is essential to the story. More like Bertolucci trying to think how to shock the viewers. Cinematography is excellent and years after both protagonists are dead they remain immortalized. See more Read all reviews

Last Tango in Paris

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