Review of Last Tango in Paris (1972) by Jonathan D — 26 Dec 2012
I remember how I learned about this movie. There was a giant, double-fold ad in the NY Times quoting Pauline Kael's entire review. She compared it to "The Rite of Spring". Well, that's a movie worth taking note of - although as a HS student I couldn't see it.
Soon, it became notorious in shorthand: "You'll never think of butter the same way again". And finally, I saw it when it was shown at college. All I remembered these decades later was... the butter scene, and the reason that Marlon Brando ordered Maria Schneider to clip her fingernails.
It seemed worth a revisit as an adult. What wisdom and greatness, expressed in sexual frankness, from the director of "The Last Emperor"?
Today, the only thing it seems to have in common with The Rite of Spring is that it's likely to piss a lot of people off. It's bold and daring in its sexuality... and boring and full of itself. Today, Brando's character seems less like an iconoclastic free spirit and more like a pig. Even his rough language seems out of place, and I often wondered if he was improvising.
So the couple (his character is 45; hers is 20) enters a sexual relationship where neither may know each other's name. I'm sure it seemed profound in the swingin' 70s- and I can see the potential to say SOMETHING about being a free spirit in a phony world, but really the message seems hackneyed. Today, what was supposed to seem cutting edge just seems boorish and nasty. But in fairness, the entire movie isn't about the sex. There's a side story about her relationship with her boyfriend, an earnest film director who has cast her in a role playing herself. I suppose Bertolucci is saying something about voyeurism - I don't know and I don't care. The scenes are tedious. He has his own side story; his wife committed a grisly suicide, and was unfaithful to him. That's a lot to deal with and maybe it explains his weird behavior. However, it doesn't leave the audience with anything of value to ponder and generalize from.
This review of Last Tango in Paris (1972) was written by Jonathan D on 26 December 2012.
Last Tango in Paris has generally received positive reviews.
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