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Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider, Maria Michi, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Massimo Girotti ... see more see more... , Catherine Allégret , Laura Betti , Jean-Luc Bideau , Jean-Marc bory , Marie-Helene Breillat , Michel Delahaye , Dan Diament , Giovanna Galletti , Veronica Lazar , Darling Legitimus , Gitt Magrini , Catherine Sola , Catherine Breillat , Mauro Marchetti , Peter Schommer

In Bernardo Bertolucci's art-house classic, Marlon Brando delivers one of his characteristically idiosyncratic performances as Paul, a middle-aged American in "emotional exile" who comes to Paris when... read more read more... his estranged wife commits suicide. Chancing to meet young Frenchwoman Jeanne (Maria Schneider), Paul enters into a sadomasochistic, carnal relationship with her, indirectly attacking the hypocrisy all around him through his raw, outrageous sexual behavior. Paul also hopes to purge himself of his own feelings of guilt, brilliantly (and profanely) articulated in a largely ad-libbed monologue at his wife's coffin. If the sexual content in Last Tango is uncomfortably explicit (once seen, the infamous "butter scene" is never forgotten), the combination of Brando's acting, Bertolucci's direction, Vittorio Storaro's cinematography, and Gato Barbieri's music is unbeatable, creating one of the classic European art movies of the 1970s, albeit one that is not for all viewers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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NC-17, 2 hr. 10 min.

Directed by: Bernardo Bertolucci

Release Date: February 1, 1972

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DVD Release Date: October 14, 2003

Stats: 1,368 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,368)

  • hunterjt13
    May 23, 2012
    hunterjt13
    A widower hooks up with a young Parisian who is pursued by a man who conflates his art with his personal life.
    In a career of gritty, realistic performances, Marlon Brando's work in Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris is among his best. The scene in which he confronts his ... read morewife's corpse reminded me of Jack Nicholson's "I'd almost marry you if you leave me" from Carnal Knowledge, but Brando's performance comes from a greater, deeper well of self-loathing than Nicholson, who can probably never forget the fact that he's Jack Nicholson; Marlon Brando in his prime -- and this is his prime -- can forget that he's Marlon Brando, and I did too. The rape scene, his myopic view of sex, and his overwhelming screen presence carry this film. His co-star, Maria Schneider, barely keeps up with Brando, and her scenes with Jean-Pierre Leaud aren't nearly as compelling as Brando's; although, Leaud does have a moment that reminded me of his best scene in the Antoine Doinel films.
    The ending was emotionally compelling but senseless and unmotivated. In fact, the writing of Jeanne's character lacks a thought-out character arc; she remains undeveloped, and that's not all Schneider's fault.
    Overall, this is a great, gritty, intense drama with some of Brando's best work.
  • stevenecarrier
    March 24, 2011
    stevenecarrier
    Bernardo Bertolucci's "Last Tango in Paris" is still as controversial and challenging as it was when it debuted in 1972. This is a film that will mean many different things to each viewer. For me, this was very much a film about romance and how to create it when you can never tru... read morely know another person (among, many other things, obviously). Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider are incredible in this film, delivering brave, unflinching and psychologically complex performances. The cinematography and sound design are also noteworthy, helping suck the viewer into this unknown world. Weather you 'get' the film or not, "Last Tango in Paris" is an unforgettable and harrowing experience.
  • ajv2688
    December 29, 2010
    ajv2688
    A very 70s romantic drama, it's sad and strange, but good.
  • matertenebraum
    August 24, 2010
    matertenebraum
    Widely denounced as obscene upon its release and unjustifiably notorious for two of its scenes, Bernardo Bertolucci's 'Last Tango in Paris' is a savage story of lust and sexual debasement.

    Marlon Brando delivers a ferocious performance as Paul, a middle-aged American expatriat... read moree tormented by his wife, Rosa's recent suicide, her infidelities and his failure to understand their relationship. In meeting a 20 year old girl, Jeanne, played by Maria Schneider, in an empty apartment, Paul hopes to form a relationship purely on his own terms and at his own pace, i.e. one he can understand fully. He insists on a new form of relationship, so basic that even their names were kept secret from each other, where she submitted to his every desire, where he could punish himself and relieve his despair and anger towards his wife by punishing Jeanne. Paul's only other interest is in Marcel (Massimo Girotti), Rosa's lover, for whom he has a curious respect and maybe a desire to obtain through him a better understanding of his own wife.

    Despite his overpowering talent, Marlon Brando has often shown poor judgement in his choice of projects and has frequently trudged through films with no apparent effort or interest. In 'Last Tango in Paris' he gives everything and produces a performance of unrivalled force. Unfortunately the obvious improvisation in the film prevents the character of Paul from staying within check as he gradually becomes too much like Marlon Brando in the second half of the film. Nonetheless, when Brando is off-screen the film becomes hollow in comparison and is replaced by Jeanne's relationship with her fiance, an annoyingly pretentious TV director (Jean-Pierre Leaud).

    This is a truly unique film and Bertolucci successfully highlights the romance in an affair that is fundamentally destructive. Brando's performance is remarkably powerful and intense, eclipsing every other player and dominating the entire film.
  • middleeasternfilms
    April 25, 2010
    middleeasternfilms
    Hardly a classic, this film was just way too strange to truly enjoy...that and the back-and-forth French/English dialogue. A treat to see Brando at work, but that's about it.
  • groaningbitch
    October 24, 2009
    groaningbitch
    "last tango in paris" is marlon brando's self-reviving strike before he officially steps into his senile years of obesity, and his character in tango feels literily like the aging version of stanley kowaski of "streetcar named desire": prole stud with a simmering violent streak w... read morehich detonates thru his sadistic libido. stanley shuts "stella!!!" in his most fragile moment and ravishes vivien leigh's blanche to exercise his strong urge of masculine dominion since he senses the contagious menace blanche puts over his enslavened wife. as elia karzan who directs several of brando's movies, such as "on the waterfront" and streetcar, comments that brando has a very tenderized feminine side conflicted with a sort of melancholy and disatisfaction which could be very dangerously explosive. "last tango in paris" shall be a perfect set to channel such brandoesque spirit by its deranged exploration of spotaneous roller-coaster sex as well as the existentialistic tale of bleakness.

    the story is about a 20-something parisian woman who encounters a middle-aged american in a desolate apartment in slums, and at the spur of the moment these two mate in an animalistic way which is very close to sanctuary rape. somehow there's an undercurrent magnetism which keeps pulling these two back into this apartment as an oblivious vaccum of random sex as well as the retreat of their primitive intimacy to forget their private problems of life.

    then we discover the man's wife has committed suicide and he's under a fundamental crisis of abysmal mentality since he has no idea why his wife leaves him for good without a final note. on the other hand, the young parisian woman's fiance is a self-centered movie-maker who has emoitonally deserted and ignored her, so in a way, she's lonesome and in the need of attention despite her functional facade. so this un-usual pair unite together under the circumstance of not knowing each other's name in a wretched world of sadness.

    their intercourses are not genuine lovemaking but a result of the man's manipulated flaunt of manhood and the woman's side is more of a morbid curiosity for racy experiements, such as the notorious butter scene of anal sex and the fingering sodomy. what counts is their interactions driven by dialogues. they bares a sort of existentialistic anxiety out of their seperate conditions, and they crave for a space of temporality intagible to the reality. it digs into their memories of childhood to summon up their truest childish selves.

    this otherworldy dimension of temporality is shattered when the girl eventually meets the man outside the apartment, and this unique romance is over when brando's sleazy banal self's exposed under the blistering sunlight of cruel reality, her heart flees away despite the man vows to capture her again as his prey. the moment he finally acquires her name, he's shot into the un-comprehesibly ironic death while she keeps mumbling to herself that "he's a stranger, i never met him, he broke into my apartment trying to rape me, so i shot him" as if their passionate redenzvou never happens. the aged brando with thining hair is no longer the powerful irresistible stanley kowaski who robs his woman back by an overwhelming snarl. and this time he's destined to lose the girl as youth and strength slip away from him no matter how desperately he attempts to keeps them. our existence may just be like that, an deliberated oblivion of constant denials due to our weakness to cope with death and the annihilation of beings.
  • cosmo313
    July 23, 2009
    cosmo313
    One of the most perplexing and complex, and emotonally gruelling films I've seen in quite a while...possibly of of the most challenging films I've ever seen period. Like many films, this films is far from being about what it's about. If anything, it's about torment and abuse (on ... read moremultiple levels), grief, and disillusionment. The performances are perfect. The viewer ends up hating Brando, but all that means is that he did the job he was supposed to. Aside from the acting, the best things about it are the music and cinematography: both are simply indescribable in their amazingness. The film is a great work of art, but it's not without its flaws. It's a little too inaccessible, too pretentious, self important, slow and ponderous in places, out there, and "arty". Even then though, it earns the grade I give it just because of how powerful and compelling it all is. A-
  • RCCLBC
    July 13, 2009
    RCCLBC
    One of those films that is often referenced and that any "film buff" feels obliged to watch.

    I can totally appreciate Bertolucci's idea for this film. The idea of a sort of erotic rendezvous that starts out as a (purely sexual) series of anonymous encounters with a girl/man t... read morehat you know nothing about but find yourself physically attracted to.

    The simplicity of that premise, involving nothing more then pleasure has a certain "erotic fantasy" appeal. But when you dig a little deeper and factor into this the equation the fact that both of the people involved in this little "arrangement" are already emotionally attached to others (and seemingly mentally unstable)...it is a recipe for disaster.

    The two main characters are emotional wrecks, which I think is essentail to this particular version of an "erotic fantasy" gone awry. But what bothered me most was the constant feeling that (when they were together) she was there against her will. The sex often felt very masochistic and had she not been so young, it might have been easier to think that she was just "into that", rather then "he's taking advantage of her". I had to keep reminding myself that she returned each time on her own.

    I feel that what could have been an erotic, emotional and heartbreaking piece...ends up feeling a bit disjointed and (quite frankly) disturbing. The question is...was that Bertolucci's goal?

    So in a nut shell, it think it works on some levels but overall...what could have been a really powerful film ends up coming across as more self-indulgent then anything else.
  • Saxia
    June 6, 2009
    Saxia
    Wow, I expected a romantic flick, but this one had an edge! What I loved about the first part is that you don't know what the hell is going on, but slowly the pieces fall into place.
    Damn, Brando is amazing in this movie, he's a pig, but it makes him irresistible.
    The only weak ... read morepart it has, are the scenes where Jeanne (Schneider) is starring in this weak ass movie her so called boyfriend is shooting. Although it might serve as a counterweight to the anonymous relations she has with Paul (Brando), for me it was an ongoing interruption of the rest of the movie.
  • arashxak
    September 23, 2008
    arashxak
    Bertolucci's masterpiece

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Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
December 7, 2007
Variety Staff, Variety

An uneven, convoluted, certainly dispute-provoking study of sexual passion in which Marlon Brando gives a truly remarkable performance. Full Review

Dave Kehr
December 7, 2007
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

The operatic extravagance of Bernardo Bertolucci's style has emerged more clearly since this 1972 drama, which still managed to seem vaguely naturalistic in the midst of its extravagant camera moves a... Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 20, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times

The movie is sad, but it's also hugely funny, occasionally when it doesn't mean to be. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The look, feel and sound of the film are evocative. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
April 25, 2012
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Brando gives a terrific performance, but Bertolucci's movie as a whole, which was so bold and audacious in 1972, does not hold up very well. Full Review

Peter Canavese
March 30, 2011
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews

Took the world by storm with its strategy of sexual frankness and a towering performance by Marlon Brando. [Blu-ray] Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
March 25, 2011
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

This emotional, sexual jumble of a movie still contains some interesting ideas, and some gorgeous cinematic poetry. Full Review

James Plath
February 26, 2011
James Plath, Movie Metropolis

High Art moments are offset by the grossly misogynistic behavior of Brando's character and scenes and dialogue that can seem so insipid that they negate any real eroticism or serious shock value. Full Review

Moira Sullivan
February 5, 2011
Moira Sullivan, Movie Magazine International

But when we look at this film, it signals a feeble turn towards art house eroticism which is tame by today's standards. For as Maria Schneider herself says ', we've seen much worse'. Full Review

Cole Smithey
September 15, 2010
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

Bernardo Bertolucci's 1972 masterpiece of post-modern existential angst is an irrefutable art film that attempts to reconcile a depth of social existence through its sexually liberated characters. Full Review

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Facts

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    • Paul: Our children will remember.
    • Paul: Why were you going through my pockets?
    • Jeanne: To find out who you are.
    • Paul: To find out who you are?
    • Jeanne: Yes.
    • Paul: Well, if you look real close, you'll see me hiding behind my zipper.
    • Paul: [drunk] Beauty of mine, sit before me. Let me peruse you and remember you... always like this.
    • Paul: I could dance forever! Oh, my hemorrhoid.
  • After the film's release in Europe, director Bertolucci, producer Grimaldi & actors Brando & Schneider were all indicted with having made a "utilitarian pornographic" film by a Bolognan court.
    They were all acquitted, however, Bertolucci lost his ci... read morevil rights (including the right to vote) for a period of 5 years.
  • Independent French film director had a starring role in Bertolucci's 1972 film, Last Tango In Paris.
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Last Tango in Paris Trivia

  • This "Wild One" was never a ruler like "Julius Caesar" but he said "Sayonara" to many of his acting rivals. Although he might have had a "Last Tango in Paris", he was known thoroughout Hollywood as a "Superman". Who is this actor?  Answer »
  • Bernardo Bertolucci, Marlon Brando & Maria Schneider?  Answer »
  • The line"go get the butter"is from what movie?  Answer »
  • "Quick, bring the butter!" is a famous quote from this film...  Answer »
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