Review of Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris

I first saw this move in Highs School. I was a big fan of Marlon Brando. I wanted to study all of his films; The Wild One, Streetcar Named Desire, The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Last Tango in Paris, anything the local library had in store. This was how I discovered Bernardo Bertolucci who has become one my favorite filmmakers. I have seen several of his films, The Conformist, 1900, and The Last Emperor.

The first time I saw the film I was confused about what was going on. The story is so open ended. It just starts where it starts. There is no introduction or establishing shots, there is no backstory. Brando and his lover just meet in an empty Parisian apartment. From there they engage in an amorous love affair that is interspersed with dialogue, mostly in French, that gives some backstory. Yet, we are mostly left in the dark until we learn that Brando's wife has committed suicide. That is the turning point in the film. It is also where Brando shines as an actor. His performance in that scene is intense, perhaps, as Roger Ebert, says, it was his best work. It is a great scene.

The film delves into bourgeous conceptions of relationships. Brando's young lover is also engaged to be married. Yet she doesn't seem so passionate about her future. Brando's wife had committed suicide so, I think Bertoluccis directly criticized the bourgeous notion that marraige is ultimately a happy experience. That settling down always ends happily. That marriage is an end in itself.. In the movie the two lovers do not exchange names or personal information. It is a purely erotic love affair uncomplicated by past experience. I think Bertolucci makes a statement that our love affairs, our sexual relations, become too complicated by bourgeous conceptions of status, age, etc. I think Last Tango in Paris is a criticism of romantic relations that don't seem based on romance at all.

Perhaps I'm wrong. It's a complicated film. Technically the film is beyond reproach. The jazz soundtack is fabulous. Starraro's cinematography is fantastic as usual. The tracking shots, the shots of Parisian rooftops, and the shots of Brando's lover are all very enticing and keep the viewer entertained. And, of course, the love making scenes are erotic depictions of sex that is free of pretensef. The "butter scene" is strange and unforgettable.

This film caused a lot of controversy when it was released. Bertolucci had just come of off 1900 which was not well recieved. It was hailed as "pornographic." It took Bertolucci sometime before he did another film that reached the gravity of Tango. Certainly it is unrivaled as a film that is erotic, emotional, and frank about sex. Nagisa Oshima, the Japanese New Wave director, experience similar problems with his film In the Realm of the Senses. It took sometime for movie makers to make such controversial films which pushed the boundaries of accepted taste and skirted the censorship laws to not be deemed obscene.