Too-Real 1972 Rape Scene Gains New Disgust in 2016

Lost interview reveals 'Last Tango in Paris' scene was sprung on actress by director, Brando
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 5, 2016 8:40 AM CST
Too-Real 1972 Rape Scene Gains New Disgust in 2016
Director Bernardo Bertolucci, left, Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider during the filming of "The Last Tango in Paris."   (AP Photo/United Artists)

Last Tango in Paris was released in 1972 to critical acclaim, but people are now "sick" and "enraged" after a 2013 interview resurfaced in which director Bernardo Bertolucci admitted the infamous rape scene in it was a little too real. In the interview, which was uploaded to YouTube on Nov. 23, Bertolucci said he and Marlon Brando, then 48, decided a stick of butter should be used as lubricant to rape the character of Jeanne without telling actress Maria Schneider, who was then 19. "I had been, in a way, horrible to Maria because I didn't tell her what was going on," Bertolucci said, per the Hollywood Reporter, noting he wanted Schneider to react "as a girl, not as an actress. I wanted her to react humiliated." Bertolucci also made similar comments to the Telegraph in 2013, only to then be described as "charming."

This isn't exactly breaking news: Schneider, who died in 2011, recounted the scene to the Daily Mail in 2007, saying "even though what Marlon was doing wasn't real, I was crying real tears" and felt "a little raped both by Marlon and Bertolucci." Brando and Bertolucci were later nominated for best actor and best director Oscars, respectively, for their work on the film, reports USA Today. "I feel sick," Jessica Chastain tweeted Saturday, per the Guardian. Evan Rachel Wood said the admission was "heartbreaking and outrageous," while Chris Evans said Bertolucci and Brando "should be in jail." Anna Kendrick said she "used to get eye-rolls" when she mentioned Bertolucci's comments to people, particularly men. Added Ava DuVernay, "As a director, I can barely fathom this. As a woman, I am horrified, disgusted and enraged by it." (More rape stories.)

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