“This scene is a transition to tragedy”: how to present the controversial scene of Last Tango in Maria in Paris?

Warning, this article contains spoilers for the movie Maria. I recommend reading preferably after watching the movie.

Among the wave of biographies that 2024 offers, after Bob Marley, Dali and Amy Winehouse, here is Maria, dedicated to Maria Schneider. Maria Schneider starred in Antonioni, Rivette, and her name remains even though she is associated with Bernardo Bertolucci and precisely the film, Last Tango in Paris, with Marlon Brando.

This film, Last Tango in Paris, released in 1972, was the subject of heated controversy that resurfaced at the death of its performer. Maria Schneider. In the film, Paul and Jeanne, an American living in Paris, meet while visiting a large empty apartment. They love each other and know nothing about each other, not even their names. Paul rents an apartment and the couple meet there before the situation becomes unbearable.

“I was young, innocent, I didn’t understand what I was doing”

On more than one occasion, the actress, who was only 19 at the time of filming, explained that her character’s rape scene Marlon Brando They filmed him without his knowledge. Neither his partner nor Bertolucci warned him about using butter as a lubricant: “I felt insulted. Yes, my tears were real. I was young, innocent, I didn’t understand what I was doing.”He confided years later. “I felt that both Bertolucci and Brando would rape me. Marlon did not apologize after the scene »He remembered and said that he had “I lost seven years of my life”Immersed in serious depression and drug addiction.

I think he hated me and Marlon because we didn’t tell him

In 2013, at an event organized by the Cinémathèque de France, Bernardo Bertolucci confirmed that the actress did not give her consent and that her reaction was authentic, although the act was simulated. “The butter scene was an idea I had with Marlon that morning”He said, specifying that he wanted her reaction “As a girl, not as an actor”.

“Then he hated me for the rest of his life.”

“I didn’t want Maria to express her anger and humiliation, I wanted her to feel anger and humiliation”he said. “Then he hated me for it all my life. (…) I think Marlon and I hated him because we didn’t tell him. »

When Maria Schneider died in 2011, the Italian director told the Italian news agency Ansa that he wanted to apologize to her: “His death came too soon. Before I kissed her gently, I told her that I felt like the first day in a relationship with her, and I asked for forgiveness at least once. Maria accused me of stealing her youth, and it’s only today that I wonder if that wasn’t partly true. »

Given the controversy surrounding this scene and its aftermath, should this scene be included in a Maria biopic? And if so, what choices should be made to establish that sequence? We asked actress Annamaria Bartholomew, who plays Maria Schneider, and screenwriter and director Jessica Palud.

“Be sure to ask yourself these questions when writing a screenplay. How to write this scene? Shall we change a little earlier, a little later? True, it was impossible for me to miss this scene in the film, because it is a turning point. This is a transition to tragedy. “

“The idea was not to remake a Bernardo Bertolucci scene that has no interest. The idea was to understand . . .”

“The main thing was to film in his skin, body, eyes, never leave him. This is a film about the gaze, how the gaze damages, how the gaze can heal. Maria was a person who was looking for love, respect, which she never found.”

Check out our full podcast interview:

“The idea was not to redo the Bernardo Bertolucci scene, it doesn’t make sense. The idea was to understand… I had access to the original script that was annotated with the script, so the script on the set. In the script we see that the scene is not written. We see script annotations as the scene changes. (..) It was very important for me to show that shift and experience it through his eyes and through the eyes of the one who is looking at the camera and the one who is looking at this unresponsive team.

Jessica Paludi’s Maria, starring Annamaria Bartholomew, Matt Dillon and Celeste Brunkel, is currently in theaters.