The film centers around the making of Last Tango in Paris, starring Anamaria Vartolomei as Maria Schneider, with Matt Dillon as the middle-aged version of Marlon Brando.
Here is Filmuforia’s take:
Maria Schneider, at the age of 19, landed a role alongside Marlon Brando in the Bertolucci film that would make her a star but also destroy her life. Berlolucci wanted to make a film about two people indulging in a sexual relationship without any trappings. They would meet regularly in a room and just go from there. But, crucially, without asking or her consenting, the Italian director and his 48-year-old male star sprung an unscripted rape scene on the young woman asking for real ‘rage’ and ‘humiliation’. And that’s what happened. Even though sodomy never took place, the fear and loss of control is devastating. And we feel for Maria even though Brando assures her: ‘it’s only a film’. She has seen him as a mentor only to be deceived. And even now, in the light of the #MeToo era, this sequence is particularly resonant.
Hard to believe it destroyed her life. If people want to go with it, they can. This actress will have to do a lot more nudity in this movie to make me even give it another second of thought.
“Ruin her life” is not exactly a precise descriptive phrase. It’s fair to say that Maria had some mental health issues, and they were exacerbated by her experiences on this film.
Schneider had an baseball mitt-sized bush, that’d be one helluva merkin to recreate
I had similar thoughts!
Hmm…..which dept on a movie set is responsible for the merkin(s)? Costume? Hair & Makeup? Props?