‘Last Tango in Paris’: Director Bernardo Bertolucci Says Infamous Rape Scene Was Not Consensual

[Suture Self]

Welp, Bertolucci is a piece of shit and The Last Tango in Paris is as rapey as you were led to believe. And by that I mean, the infamous sex scene on screen was not consensual at all: http://www.indiewire.com/2016/12/la...r ... 201752235/

I've always considered the movie's sexual politics to be pathetic and unpleasant but this admission takes my opinion of it to another level. Fuck you, Bertolucci and Brando.

Of course, for those who enjoy the film, the deeper question is this: Should its quality be reevaluated in light of Bertolucci's admission?

I'm inclined to say yes. I'm usually willing to separate a director's bad actions in their private life from their art, but when the art itself is created via bad actions, especially something as disgusting as non-consensual sex, I have no defense.

[CosmicMonkey]

Is Last Tango in Paris a worse film as a result of this admission? Yes, absolutely. There is no excuse for assault, rape or abuse done in the name of art, even great art, and the film definitely would have been better had this not been a part of it's production. (I'm also looking at you Jodorowsky and Kubrick) Is Last Tango in Paris no longer a good film as a result of this admission? Without having seen the film, I can't say.

[Suture Self]

In my opinion, knowledge of how the scene was created can rightfully change a viewer's perception of the scene itself; this is something I don't find all that controversial when it comes to art. For me, movies don't exist in a vacuum, intent matters, context matters, and often it's very difficult to separate the process of creation from the creation itself. The ends aren't the only thing that should matter in your evaluation of a work of art. The means are worth considering, too.

By the way, it's not like I expect someone to know that scene is non-consensual just by watching the movie alone. You can't. It requires knowing something outside of the film itself. But when you know, I find it impossible to revert back to my previous state of not knowing.

[dardan]

Meanwhile I'm just sitting here, wondering how the hell I could have missed Bertolucci appearing in College Tour, the Dutch tv-show in which he admitted to having planned that with Brando.

Edit: Apparantly the interview was taken 3.5 years ago, in early 2013, so I wonder how the hell this only became news now.

[Bojangles]

Good God, political correctness has hit a new low. Are the days where you can savagely rape a broad for artistic expression really over? That's it? Just no more rape? Talk about throwing the baby out with the bath water...

Cucks.

[Bojangles]

Edit: Apparantly the interview was taken 3.5 years ago, in early 2013, so I wonder how the hell this only became news now.

I think it recently blew up in a viral video. Not sure though.

[JSchlansky]

Here's an article where Bertolucci responds saying its a misunderstanding
http://variety.com/2016/film/global/bernardo-bertolucci-responds-to-last-tango-in-paris-backlash-1201933605/

[ehk2]

I've watched the film very recently, but I really do not recall that scene as 'rape'. How on earth was it a rape? I remember it a consensual variety of sexual conduct...

[djross]

x

[Mentaculus]

Yeah - when I read about this I wasn't really surprised.

Frankly I've always avoided writing about this one because I just found it contemptuous - a nasty film full of brooding, repellent sexuality that's OK because it's Fine Art (attacking social, political, gender mores, all that good stuff). I think this rediscovered story goes to prove that it's OK if you go that route... as long as the film's made in the right spirit. Going by Schneider's late-career admissions, it wasn't, and it continues to show in the final film.

The fact that this is brought up three years after the fact is just weird, and so is the "r" word being tossed around in headlines pretty callously by major news outlets. It's too bad that two out of the three parties aren't around anymore to elaborate on the full story, but based on the written record, it's going to be damning to the legacies of Brando and Bertolucci.