Last Tango In Paris (1972)

Plot: A middle-aged widower and a young woman meet in an empty Parisan apartment to have anonymous "no questions asked" sex.
Stars:  Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider
Best Quote: 

Catherine (retelling the Police questions about Brando):
"Do you know that he was a boxer?" So? "It didn't work out, so he became an actor. Bongo player, revolutionary in South America, journalist in Japan. One day, he lands in Tahiti, hangs around, Learns French. Then he comes to Paris. There... he meets a woman with money, marries her and... Since then what has your boss done?"  Nothing.

Why Brando Took the Role

Money. After shooting The Godfather Brando was short on cash. First, he sold his Godfather "points" back to Paramount for $100,000 - but that wasn't enough. So, when the Producer Grimaldi agreed to drop his lawsuit against Brando (for cost overruns incurred on Burn) and pay him $250,000 plus 11 percent of the Gross - Brando agreed. He also liked the idea of working with Bertolucci, especially since the film's dialogue would be written/improvised on the set. Unexpectedly popular, Last Tango was a gold mine for Brando, he eventually made $14 million.

Brando's Performance

Nominated for an Academy Award, this was Brando's last leading man performance. Did he deserve it? Maybe. Through sheer force of personality he makes the movie somewhat interesting.  And he's the whole movie, since there's little plot and the other main character (Maria Schneider) is dull and passive.  Most of Brando's dialogue is improvised and based on his own past. At one point, Brando while improvising, became so angry he punched a door. Result? an injured hand and a trip to the Doctor. Note: Because of his obesity, Brando did the sex scenes clothed or partly nude. His belly - and everything below it - is always hidden. Rating  ***

The Movie

Wildly controversial when released,  Last Tango was the movie anybody who was anybody had to see. It did massive box office. Some critics - like Ebert and Kael -  hysterically overpraised the movie.  Kael stated:

This must be the most powerfully erotic movie ever made, and it may turn out to be the most liberating movie ever made...Bertolucci and Brando have altered the face of an art form. Who was prepared for that?I’ve tried to describe the impact of a film that has made the strongest impression on me in almost twenty years of reviewing. This is a movie people will be arguing about, I think, for as long as there are movies. 

But the other major critics, including almost all the British ones, John Simon, Rex Reed, and Stanley Kauffman were less impressed.  For example:

"Hatred for women and a pervasive homosexual sensibility characterize the film... The film can thus be seen as a product of the closet-queen mentality. Jeanne is... really Jean, a boy in disguise, and the filmmakers are playing with secret fears, guilt feelings, and obsessions that they want to get off their chests but dare not quite reveal... All this, of course, is detrimental only in a film posturing as the revelation of ultimate heterosexual truths, and made by two such supermasculine men..."

My Opinion

Brando gives an intense performance and the cinematography is elegant. But Last Tango is thin stuff that relies on sex, dead rats, and vulgarity to generate interest.  When Last Tango was made, it was scandalous that a major Movie Star would engage in "shocking" on-screen sex.  But its no longer shocking - quite the opposite. So, take out the sex - and you're not left with much.  Just two hours of mostly dull talk between two manufactured characters in a false situation. Even Brando didn't think much of it. Recommended only for fans of soft-porn. Rating **