Last Tango In Paris (1974) Full Review

Film Scene Investigation

Here’s my review of the French filmography and came, Last Tango In Paris.   Thanks for watching and please subscribe.  New videos dropping every week.   For Exclusive Content:  https://www.patreon.com/filmsceneinvestigation   Rumble:  https://www.rumble.com/filmsceneinvestigations   Odysee:  https://odysee.com/@filmsceneinvestigation:e   Daily Motion:  https://www.dailymotion.com/Filmsceneinvestigation   Help Support Me At:  https://www.PayPal.me/beaucarter91

Transcript

00:00hey everyone welcome back to another cult movie review with me Beau Carter I hope everyone is

00:19doing good today I'm going to be looking at the controversial 1972 erotic thriller

00:26last tango in Paris if you haven't already guys please consider subscribing it goes a long way

00:34to help support the channel so the film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci starred the brilliant Marlon

00:41Brando in the lead role Brando had just completed his work portraying Don Corleone in the Oscar

00:50winning movie The Godfather the film also starred 19 year old actress Maria Schneider playing

00:58Brando's on-screen lover Jean Schneider had already appeared in a few films prior to Last Tangle in

01:06Paris but this was her big breakout role acting alongside Brando now I saw this film many years

01:15ago when I was discovering Brando's filmography I was already aware of Brando's work in The Godfather

01:26and the first Superman movie but that was about it for me Marlon Brando has always come across

01:38as a really interesting guy especially in his interviews and it was some of those interviews

01:46that I watched online that spurred me on to check out his material so the film follows Schneider's

01:55character Jean this young woman roaming through the streets of Paris trying to find an apartment to

02:02live in while on a search she encounters Brando's character an American expatriate called Paul so Paul

02:11is this soft-spoken middle-aged guy who we discover is mourning his wife's recent passing he too is on the

02:21hunt for an apartment and stumbles upon Jean the two characters are instantly drawn to one another

02:32and over the course of days we see them start this intense passionate love affair as mentioned

02:41Paul was tormented over his wife's death and struggling to come to terms with the loss the

02:51character was lost and emotionally dazed while attempting to arrange his wife's funeral meanwhile Jean this 20

03:01year old woman was preparing to start her life and marry her fiance Thomas one minute she's trying to secure

03:10an apartment and the next she's caught up in this relationship with this guy who had just become a

03:17widower so Paul and Jean become lovers albeit strange ones due to the fact that Paul refused to

03:27reveal any details about his life from Jean's perspective this was an affair but as Paul saw it it was more of an

03:38arrangement he was jaded and showed zero interest in getting to know Jean she on the other hand was an open book

03:49happy to share her thoughts and feelings with Paul Brando's character was a tortured soul who basically didn't want

03:59to accept the loss of his wife and so he ran away from it he ran away from the pain because it was too much to

04:10handle he used Jean as a distraction from the numbness he felt and once the relationship had started Paul

04:21attempted to use the apartment as a place where love free from any pain could exist you know I totally get

04:30that on screen the relationship you know did translate into this degenerate sex-fueled fling but taking a step

04:44back the idea that Paul turned the apartment into this sanctuary for himself a place to forget the pain

04:53makes a lot of sense Jean was just a tool a coping mechanism to help ease his pain and this was evident

05:05by Paul's violent sexual behavior that he had towards Jean and I think it's a shame that this idea

05:14unfortunately got lost within the post-production phase you know more emphasis was put on the

05:23the film's eroticism and yeah it kind of blurred the lines and I think some of the substance was lost

05:35let's talk about Brando's superb acting in this film so Marlon Brando was actually nominated for an Oscar

05:45for his portrayal in Lost Tango in Paris and I have to say I felt it was completely justified the film had a small cast

05:58and yeah the overall pacing is slow now that may you know put some viewers off but regardless it gave Brando

06:10the opportunity to really showcase his acting abilities on screen I actually noticed at times

06:19that Brando took pauses in his line delivery to convey the conflicted state his character was in

06:28you know it's quite clear from watching the film that Paul struggled to articulate his feelings

06:35so this subtle pausing technique that Brando implemented overall gave his performance a much more realistic

06:46and raw feel there's a specific scene I want to mention where we see Paul talking to his deceased wife

06:55her dead body laid out on a bed of flowers we see Paul visit her bedside and he breaks down as he opens up about his true feelings

07:09he felt abandoned and you know credit to the film for showing how suicide also affects the mental health

07:19of loved ones as it's clear to see that her death had a serious psychological impact on Paul of course Paul had sympathy for his wife

07:34but he also felt angry for his wife basically giving up on him and their relationship I also have to say

07:43that Maria Schneider and Brando had wonderful on-screen chemistry together something that was pivotal for this movie to work

07:55the dialogue exchange between the two felt natural and it didn't feel forced given Schneider had limited acting experience at the time of filming

08:09credit to her for holding her own and being able to deliver a really great performance opposite an actor

08:22you know one of the greatest of his generation

08:26now I would be remissed if I didn't mention the infamous butter scene that takes place in the movie

08:33so during the movie Paul initiates sex with Jean at the apartment but she basically stops him

08:43the situation then evolves into rape and we see Paul use butter as a lubricant to sexually assault Jean

08:56now the scene itself caused vast amounts of controversy which you know tarnished the film's reputation over the years

09:06upon its release the movie was heavily criticized for its explicit content and in addition to all of that

09:16the actress Maria Schneider came out years later and told the press that

09:22that she believed the director Bernardo Bertolucci and Marlon Brando took advantage of her on set

09:31which reignited the film's critics you know when it comes to the allegations themselves

09:39you know there's a lot of context and information to understand um unfortunately all three people

09:46involved in that scene and that controversy have now passed away so in terms of any legal ramifications

09:55we'll never see them and you know and having watched the film a few times now I have to say that the scene

10:02itself is a small part of a much larger compelling story yet it would appear many get fixated on that

10:13particular facet of the film which ultimately negates any other enjoyment personally I am not a fan of

10:23these types of scenes as they can be really hard to watch looking at the history of this movie

10:31I think that the scene itself wasn't really necessary to the overall story anyway in fact

10:39the film may have fed better without having that scene involved at all less controversy and more focus

10:50on the film's other qualities I have to say the film captures Paris beautifully and that's something that

10:58I love about kind of watching older films now they're like a time capsule of sorts

11:05the cinematographer Viterio Storero did a wonderful job presenting 1971's Paris in all its glory

11:16the visual components of the film such as lighting and camera movement were all wonderfully executed

11:25in a way Paris becomes a character of sorts acting as an immersive background to this

11:35erotic tale and having seen the film again recently I did have a tinge of sadness given the city's decline

11:45over the years not to get too off topic here but I did visit Paris over a decade ago and while I had a good

11:54time the city was a shell of its former self and yeah I haven't been back since

12:02I'm soo... Dislikes 4 Last Tango in Paris 1972

12:11My main dislike for the film would be all the scenes between Jean and her fiancé Thomas

12:18so the Thomas character played by actor Jean Leod was an annoying wannabe filmmaker making a documentary

12:26about his girlfriend about his girlfriend Jean the movie cuts back and forth between scenes with Jean and Thomas

12:33and I have to say it kind of sucked the life out of the film the whole performance was

12:42just over the top and not in a good way I really wish that the director had told the actor to

12:50tone his performance down a bit it would have helped the movie a lot and as it stands the scenes with the Thomas character

13:02overall bring the film's quality down I mean Thomas had this boyish demeanor and I just didn't like it but

13:11thinking about it maybe that was the director's intention to show the contrast between

13:19Thomas and Paul

13:22one was an alpha male the other was a beta male

13:26another dislike for me that I have to mention

13:30would be the excessive nudity that we saw throughout the film

13:34I understand that the story dictated nudity from time to time but overall I

13:42just felt it was excessive

13:44at times it kind of felt like lazy filmmaking

13:48having prolonged scenes with a naked Maria Schneider walking around the apartment

13:53but with that said

13:55I get the impression that this was a decision that was made in post-production

14:01to highlight the nudity and to titillate the audience

14:07and so ratings for Last Tango in Paris 1972

14:12I'm going to be rating this movie a solid 5.5 out of 10.

14:17For film lovers out there who haven't seen this one yet

14:21I have to say it's an intriguing piece of cinema

14:25on the surface

14:28people may think that this movie is a controversial erotic story

14:35when actually it's about a man going through a serious mental breakdown

14:40using a young woman to get over his trauma

14:44now this movie isn't for everyone

14:46you know this is not your

14:49standard Hollywood love story

14:51the mixture between English and French dialogue may put some people off

14:58I understand not everyone wants to read subtitles

15:02still if you're a fan of Brando's work

15:05this is a must watch

15:08undoubtedly

15:09this is a career highlight for Marlon Brando

15:14his attempts at French were more than passable and quite impressive actually

15:22you know it's fair to say that Brando's later films were not all that great

15:29watching some of his later work gave me the impression that he was just there for the paycheck

15:36when it comes to Last Tango in Paris

15:39I really got the impression that he wanted to be there on set

15:44Brando wanted to challenge himself which he did

15:48and delivered a brilliant performance

15:53so yes Last Tango in Paris

15:55I do recommend it but be aware of its explicit nature

16:01lots of nudity lots of sex scenes so maybe not a film to watch with the whole family

16:09anyways that's all from me today guys I appreciate you taking the time watching the video hope you've

16:15enjoyed it if you haven't already please do subscribe it means a great deal as I'm trying to grow the

16:20channel all the support I've received so far it means a great deal and uh yeah I'll be back very soon

16:26with some more cult move reviews take care guys bye

16:56we'll see you next time

16:58bye

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