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Jul 11, 2014ManMachine rated this title 1.5 out of 5 stars
Amongst all of the controversial films that were produced in the 1970s (and there were plenty), Last Tango In Paris (or LTIP, for short) ranks right up there at #1. There can certainly be no denying this film's controversy. At full-throttle, LTIP deliberately toes the thin line between what is considered porn and what isn't. Even though this film's impact has mellowed significantly with age, I suggest that you watch LTIP and be the judge of this one for yourself. LTIP's story is probably about as shallow as any story could ever get. It's so shallow, in fact, that it nearly chokes the viewer with its sheer mindlessness. But, hey, let's face it, LTIP's story is inconsequential. It's the sex that we're all here to watch. Right? So, the story be damned. Some people say that Brando's performance as "Paul" was one of his very finest. Personally, I saw Brando's "Paul" as just a simple revising of his Stanley Kowalski character in A Streetcar Named Desire from some 22 years prior. And, with that being the case, I'm sorry, but Brando looking like a totally dishevelled slob at 52 and playing a lech in LTIP wasn't anywhere near to the same thing as a young, virile-looking Brando, at 30, in a strategically torn t-shirt, playing a totally despicable slob.... Nope. It wasn't the same thing, at all. *Trivia notes* - (1) Marlon Brando, being the impossible, little "Method" actor that he was, refused to memorize his lines for his part. Instead, he placed little cue cards all around the set to remind himself of what to say, and so forth. (spare me) (2) Years after LTIP's release, actress Maria Schneider came out of the closet, or wherever, to say that playing "Jeanne" was the absolute, most humiliating experience, as an actress, that she had ever had to endure. Maria claimed that certain sex scenes, particularly the simulated anal-rape scene, were not in the script and that it was Brando and director Bertolucci who plainly coerced her into doing these scenes, with Brando repeatedly reassuring her - "Maria. Don't worry. It's only a movie."