MPAA Rating: X
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Starring: Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider
"Last Tango In Paris" Video
Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, Last Tango in Paris (Ultimo tango a Parigi) details the bizarre relationship of an American widower (Marlon Brando) and a young Parisian woman (Maria Schneider). The film caused much controversy for the so-called "butter scene," which is extremely tame by today's standards. Schneider, who claims she is still haunted by the scene, was quoted in the New York Post (July 23, 2007), claiming that the scene wasn't part of the original script: "The truth is it was Marlon who came up with the idea . . . I should have called my agent or had my lawyer come to the set because you can't force someone to do something that isn't in the script . . . I was crying real tears. I felt humiliated and, to be honest, I felt a little raped . . . Thankfully, there was just one take . . . I never use butter to cook anymore - only olive oil." According to a court in Bologna that banned the film: "Obscene content offensive to public decency . . . presented with obsessive self-indulgence, catering to the lowest instincts of the libido, dominated by the idea of stirring unchecked appetites for sexual pleasure, permeated by scurrilous language . . . accompanied off screen by sounds, sighs and shrieks of climax pleasure."