Last Tango in Paris

Name: Last Tango in Paris
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: January 27, 1973
Duration: 136 min
Rating: 77
Cast: Maria Schneider, Marlon Brando

1973

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 46 Ratings

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6.7

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6.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 46 Ratings

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Last Tango In Paris

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Movie Details & Credits

United Artists | Release Date: January 27, 1973 | X

Starring: Maria Schneider, Marlon Brando

Summary: Jeanne, a young Parisienne, meets Paul, an American expatriate mourning his wife's recent suicide and have an affair.

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

Genre(s): Drama, Romance

Rating: X

Runtime: 136 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

Shattering social and sexual conventions, Last Tango in Paris stands as one of Bernardo Bertolucci's finer achievements. Read full review

100

Roger Ebert

Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris is one of the great emotional experiences of our time. Read full review

Vincent Canby

Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris is a beautiful, courageous, foolish, romantic, and reckless film. Read full review

Dave Kehr

The surface plausibility is probably the contribution of Marlon Brando, whose performance has strength and detail enough to counterbalance Bertolucci's taste for pure psychological essence. Read full review

Empire Emma Cochrane

Interesting for it's historical notoriety, but overlong and dull in places. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris is an uneven, convoluted, certainly dispute-provoking study of sexual passion in which Marlon Brando gives a truly remarkable performance. Read full review

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User Reviews

amheretojudge

Aug 4, 2019

The chase scene, the last run, the rush that it gives me, that adrenaline is what drives me to cinema every single time.

Ultimo Tango A Parigi (Last Tango In Paris) Bertolucci's vision is above most filmmakers. At least in that era. I can imagine him being drooled over by the actors letThe chase scene, the last run, the rush that it gives me, that adrenaline is what drives me to cinema every single time.

Ultimo Tango A Parigi (Last Tango In Paris)

Bertolucci's vision is above most filmmakers. At least in that era. I can imagine him being drooled over by the actors let alone viewers. For his magnetic characters calls for much more attention than his world ever did. And this can easily be pointed out by the way he picturizes his characters, i.e. he mostly uses close-up shots, especially when they are expressing themselves. And if the writer and director Bernardo Bertolucci does focus on the world his characters hover around, he usually portrays it as a map. And as a viewer you are told to find out, look for the faces when he distances you from them.

And this is his genius, this is the part where you and he knows that his story is getting in your head, his characters are taking charge over you. And who else will be a better contender to invest your chips on then Marlon Brando who at that prime stage was the hottest, reliable ticket to tear up on screen. The expectations that he comes up with is exceeded by just the way, as an individual entity, in this romantic drama, he is painted, it is simply brilliant.

And I am not just saying that being his fan or the power he is given in his hand or the mystery that shadows him throughout the film, it is actually the way his character is romanticized. The dark drunken aspect of his love track is what impresses and inspires me the most. And it is not this his love is grounded or barred within a particular character, no matter who he shares his screen with, he remains a powerful imbalanced force and if he is not, he just leaves the room. Last Tango In Paris has the best dance in the film, it is between a cat and a mouse.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

sachineldho

Jan 8, 2019

A rare gem in the career of Bertolucci. Marlon Brando's performance is absolutely stunning. So natural and so real.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

FilipeNeto

Apr 28, 2018

This film, basically and to approach in a simple way, revolves around a man and a woman who, while remaining anonymous, maintain sexual encounters that end up developing dramatically to the point of rupture. He is a widower and suffers with it, she is engaged but she have doubts that becomeThis film, basically and to approach in a simple way, revolves around a man and a woman who, while remaining anonymous, maintain sexual encounters that end up developing dramatically to the point of rupture. He is a widower and suffers with it, she is engaged but she have doubts that become more intense as their involvement increases. He seems to love her and despise her at the same time. She submits herself, accepts to be treated as a desired object, but this becomes more and more insufficient. That anthological scene of anal rape can be the most shocking and disgusting moment of the film. Subjects such as the middle age crisis, widowhood, sexual taboos, remorse, psychological traumas, betrayal, abuse over another, are all approached more or less intensely.

The two main actors, Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider, achieved stardom and have made here (mainly she) one of their most acclaimed cinematographic works. However, they are not particularly grateful to Bernardo Bertolucci, as they were also strongly stigmatized by the intense controversy surrounding the film. Personally, I understand the feelings of the actors, but I am the first to consider that it was an act of courage, folly and enormous talent to accept such roles.

The cinematography is beautiful, fits perfectly into the mood of the film, which rotates between the seductive, the forbidden and the menacing. Eroticism and psychological violence unite their hands in this film, provocative, disturbing and horrendous in equal parts. Sex was not only an intimate act, but an act of mastery of one individual over another, a psychological refuge and a hope for something more, that never comes.

For me, this movie is paradoxical. It was beautifully filmed and done, but it tackles themes and issues that are ugly in my opinion. Bernardo Bertolucci is one of the directors I least appreciate. Not because he's bad, but because I have always found him cruel and sick. Moreover, a good part of Italian cinema has this problem: it is cruel, it is ugly, it likes to talk and to show ugly things that repugn us. This movie is a movie I do not like, but it is powerful, it's impossible to be indifferent to it.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

elitefour

Jun 28, 2015

It´s such kind of aberrant and misogynist piece of junk.
Filled with horrible dialogues and unwatchable moments.
It´s disgusting. I just can´t believe Bertolucci received critical acclaim for an film like this.

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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