We need to stop romanticizing method-style acting (that Brando was famous for), and the idea that the actual humans behind the role must be having a lived-in traumatizing experience in order to attain their best performance. The controversy surrounding Last Tango in Paris calls attention to the fair treatment of actors, especially when having to perform scenes of a sexual or violent nature. Pauline Kael wrote in her New Yorker review that "Bertolucci achieves realism with the terror of actual experience still alive on the screen," but the director took this authenticity too far, creating a terrifying real-life encounter that would disturb and humiliate one of his stars. "Last Tango in Paris" is an esoteric film that alternates between long-winded soliloquies and illicit moments, but there was one salacious scene in particular that caused the most controversy. Acting titan Brando was forty-eight at the time of filming alongside the nineteen-year-old newcomer Schneider in what would become her most notorious role. The story centers on Paul, a middle-aged widower, and a young girl named Jeanne who engage in an intense yet detached sexual relationship where they do not even know each other's names. Content warning: The following article contains descriptions of rape and sexual assault.ĭirected by Bernardo Bertolucci, "Last Tango in Paris" is a haunting erotic drama about grief and disconnection starring Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider.