LAST TANGO IN PARIS (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1972)
Category: Cinema > Films
| Original title: | Ultimo tango a Parigi |
|---|---|
| Director: | Bernardo Bertolucci |
| Release date: | 1972 |
| Country of origin: | France | Italy |
| Genre: | Drama | Romance |
| IMDb: | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070849/ |
Censorship incidents
| February 1974 | A scene cut from the movie LAST TANGO IN PARIS (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1972)
|
Description
In Bernardo Bertolucci’s most controversial film, the viewer follows the cruel sexual relationship between a middle-aged man (Marlon Brando) and a young woman (Maria Schneider). An intense public discourse followed the film’s release, concerning its violent content, and the work was censored and cut throughout many countries. The epicenter of the debate was a scene where Brando’s character anally raped Schneider’s character, using butter as lubricant. The director was prosecuted in Italy and the film was banned. A few years ago, it was revealed that Maria Schneider was abused during filming, as she was not aware in advance of the use of butter in the scene. Bertolucci argued that his goal was to achieve Schneider’s “authentic performance”.
The film was released in Greece in the winter of 1974, becoming a box office hit. Although the rape scene was cut, it was constantly mentioned by the Press; the film’s screenplay was serially published by a newspaper, and the infamous scene was indirectly mentioned in the verses of a variety show –thus eluding the dictatorship’s censorship. Although sexual depictions were frequent in films, the heated debate was created by the fact that this was a major director’s art-house work and not a common pornographic film.
Christos Triantafyllou
Sources – Bibliography
- Kostas Katsapis, «Τελευταίο ταγκό στο Παρίσι: Μια προβολή ‘νηστήσιμη και …χωρίς βούτυρο’», in PenelopePetsini, Dimitris Christopoulos (eds.), Λεξικό λογοκρισίας στην Ελλάδα. Καχεκτική Δημοκρατία, Δικτατορία και Μεταπολίτευση, Athens, Εκδόσεις Καστανιώτη, 2018, 505-506.
- Kostis Kornetis, «Περί ασέμνων: ‘πορνογραφία’, δημόσια αιδώς και γυμνό στη μεταπολιτευτική Ελλάδα», in Penelope Petsini-Dimitris Christopoulos (eds.), Λεξικό λογοκρισίας στην Ελλάδα. Καχεκτική Δημοκρατία, Δικτατορία και Μεταπολίτευση, Athens, Εκδόσεις Καστανιώτη, 2018,182-194.
- Anna North, “The disturbing story behind the rape scene in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris, explained”, Vox, 26/11/2018.
