In the article Elle mis-reports that in 2013, Last Tango in Paris director Bernardo Bertolucci said in an interview that Maria Schneider never consented to the film's famous, butter-fueled, anal-rape scene. In response to that headline, and the poorly written and terribly misleading article below it, numerous celebrities like Jessica Chastain, Anna Kendrick, Chris Evans and Jenna Fischer have all tweeted their outrage about Marlon Brando and Bernardo Bertolucci actually raping Maria Schneider.
Many of you may be wondering what the hell I am talking about? Well, this past weekend all hell broke loose when Elle magazine published an article with the headline, " Bertolucci Admits He Conspired to Shoot a Non-Consentual Rape Scene in 'Last Tango in Paris'. Now that we got that out of the way…I guess I should start at the beginning. Also, Maria Schneider herself DID NOT ever claim to be raped by Marlon Brando during the filming. In addition, Bertolucci DID NOT admit in an interview that he and Brando conspired to rape Schneider on the film.
LAST TANGO IN PARIS BUTTER SCENE UNEDITEC FULL
The Board's decision to waive the cut provoked no comment and the film was subsequently passed 18 uncut for video release in 1988."A LIE WILL GO HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD WHILE TRUTH IS PUTTING ITS BOOTS ON." - MARK TWAINĬontrary to what is going around the media lately, Marlon Brando did not rape Maria Schneider while filming director Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris, FULL STOP. Therefore the film was not obscene in its complete version. According to the new Secretary of the BBFC, James Ferman, the application of the OPA to this film guaranteed that it must be considered as a whole and that a defence of artistic value was applicable. It was therefore rather ironic that when the OPA was applied to film, by the Criminal Law Act 1977, the BBFC's response was to waive its original 1973 cut and pass the film X uncut. The case ultimately collapsed when it was found that the Obscene Publications Act (OPA) did not apply to film. However, it received favourable write ups from the film critics and played unopposed in most areas.Įvents took an unprecedented turn, however, when Edward Shackleton, a 69 year old Salvation Army member, brought a private prosecution against the film's distributors for publishing obscene material. However, the token cut was insufficient for those who wanted to see the film banned outright, and the BBBFC's decision to classify the film was instantly attacked by certain sections of the press and by Mary Whitehouse's Festival of Light.Īs was normal in the early 1970s some local authorities bowed to pressure and prohibited the film. To a certain extent the BBFC's decision to cut the film was a political concession to those critics who had accused the BBFC of being too liberal over The Devils, Straw Dogs and A Clockwork Orange. The film was therefore passed X after one cut on 16 February 1973. The distributors agreed to make a cut lasting about 20 seconds but the cut was appealed against by the film's director and, following meetings between the film's producer and BBFC Secretary, Stephen Murphy, a compromise was reached in which only 10 seconds were cut. However, it was decided that the problematic sex scene could be reduced in duration without any serious damage. Ultimately the BBFC decided that the explicit dialogue could remain because it could not be easily removed without damaging an important part of the film. The BBFC's concerns centred around two scenes - one involving some very explicit sexual dialogue and one involving an explicit scene in which the two characters employ butter as a sexual lubricant.
LAST TANGO IN PARIS BUTTER SCENE UNEDITEC SERIES
The New York screening was followed by several lurid and inaccurate articles in the British tabloids, claiming that the film contained 'a series of blistering sequences guaranteed to knock the bottom out of the backstreet porno market'. It had already caused controversy at the New York Film Festival in October 1972 but had also received critical acclaim as a serious and important film. Bernardo Bertolucci's story about a purely physical relationship between two characters who meet in Paris (played by Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider) was submitted to the BBFC at the end of 1972.