Last Tango in Paris

Rating:
Summary: A movie that redefines tedium
Review: Feeble, inarticulate and struggling to be deep without knowing what it wants to be deep about. It can be fast-forwarded to the end without anything being missed. Alas, poor Brando, we knew him well.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best films of all times!
Review: When so-to-speak film-know-it-alls compile their lists of the Best Films of All Time, this should be included. Never has there been anything which portrays such raw emotion in film so well. Brando's performance is amazing! He should have won the Oscar for this, as opposed to the one where he walked around with cotton in his mouth. The rating controversy was stupid, although adult in themes, this was not a dirty movie. This is one of my favorite movies of all time. The direction was superb! My favorite scene was in the ballroom with the tango couples. The film to me represented a piece of art.

Rating:
Summary: Intense
Review: Intense and honest. Everything in this film is symbolic, the filmaking is first rate. Their anonymous and nihilistic sexual relationship reflected their inner torment. They let their unguarded selves show with each other because of the anonymity and therefore the ability to "be themselves", totally and completely without facade. In that respect, they were not exploiting each other for sex...they were being more open with each other than most "normal" relationships allowed. Next to Streetcar Named Desire and The Godfather, Brando gives what I consider one of the best performances of his entire acting career.

Rating:
Summary: Erotic, intelligent, and mesmerizing...
Review: Fascinating drama of middle-aged man's attempt to bury painful memories of his wife's suicide by indulging in a purely sexual relationship with a young woman. Marlon Brando portrays this man with an intensity that has rarely been matched by any other actor in any film. His performance is a powerhouse of human emotion as he enacts the deeds of a self-loathing individual who cannot communicate with anyone in a decent manner. He overpowers, scares, and at times humiliates them. His reasons for this may seem self-serving, but underneath you realize that they are just the result of a person who doesn't know how to express the way he feels. Brutish as he is, there is an undeniable vulnerabiltiy to the character. There is the sense that he is trying to say something, but has no idea what it is. His sexual and emotional abuse of the girl is the closest to relating his fears, desires, and longing for someone to love that he can come to. It is a realization that is eventually reached when, at the end of the film, he tries to open up, only to discover that it is too late. Director Bernardo Bertolucci did a magnificent job of displaying humanity at its most uncompromising, humorous, and shocking. The dialogue between the characters is nothing short of brilliant. Through their words we are allowed to glimpse to the very core of their beings; what we find there is up to us to decide, since Bertolucci makes no judgments on them. Repulsion and attraction are equally infused into them. At times, they aren't even sure why they do some of the things they do. It is for this reason that it is so easy for people to relate to them: they are by no means perfect, and don't pretend that they are. Despite its X-rating, "Last Tango in Paris" is anything but exploitational. This is a stark contrast to the explicit nature of the film. And this is also its genius. What many later motion pictures failed to realize was that "Last Tango" was graphic for a reason. The actions of the characters defined their needs, their insecurities; it showed us parts of their souls, rather than just parts of their bodies. Erotic, intelligent, and mesmerizing, "Last Tango in Paris" is a sterling example of what makes a film great.

Rating:
Summary: Highly intellectal and emotional multi-plotted story.
Review: What can one say about such a powerful story? Is it about love? Is it about irony? Is it about lust? Is it about loss? What is it all about? That, in my view, is the beautey of this film: Nobody is for sure, yet most everyone knows that it's a classic.

Brando gives the performance of a lifetime. For those who want to know what real acting is, I recommend they see the scene with Brando and his dead wife's body. It's majestic, to say the least.

In this film, Brando lets himself go and seems to let the viewer inside his mind - if not soul.

The musical score is passionate, lustful, erotic and majestic all at once. It's wonderful.

Bertulluci was creating a sure winner here when he was directing. He shows what a talented director he truly is.

I advise anyone to see this film 3 or 4 times. With each viewing, the viewer will get more of an insight into the mind of one terribly lonely man. It's a masterpiece!

Rating:
Summary: Still powerful; Brando and Storaro at their peak; B.B. super
Review: I first saw this film fifteen years ago. Now, as a thirty-something y.o. adult, the film has taken on a resonance it didn't have then. Brando is at his finest; the scene where he views his wife's body is incredibly powerful. It was Brando not acting, but being.

The sex was not graphic at all by today's standards. There are very frank and uncomfortable situations portayed, and a few static shots of breasts and mons. Otherwise, the erotic impact is generated completely in the mind of the viewer.

While the picture quality isn't exactly mindblowing, it was adequate. And yet, Storaro's genius shines through. Some of his best work. Fine score. I would have liked more, perhaps an interview with Brando, Bertolucci and Storaro.

Of course, it's B.B.'s baby; he was way ahead of his time with this classic portrait of the darker side of human passion, loss and identity.

Rating:
Summary: Among the greatest performances in the history of cinema
Review: Movie critics, both professional and otherwise, use the term "greatness" far too often. The term is so extreme that it should be reserved for movies that make us forget that we are in a theatre, or in our living room. This movie, if nothing else, makes us forget that we are movie-goers and makes us believe we are witnesses to human emotions.
"Last Tango in Paris" shows not only the talent of Bertolucci as a director, but also it allows Brando to fully express his emotional range, as perhaps the greatest screen actor of all time.
The movie exists almost as a set of inter-related scenes; each one stands on its own merit and style. The scenes do not, however, ever fall beneath the status of genius. They merely do not settle under one blanket description; the scenes occupy so many titles: love story, sucicidal, remorse, nostalgic, existential.
The story of the movie is well known by nearly everyone acquaitned with cinema: two people, a recently widowed American and a young, engaged French girl, meet by chance in an apartment and begin a purely carnal relationship. However, the actual movie delivers on so many more levels.
Brando's scenes which deal with his wofe and/or past are the best performances I have ever seen. The true emotion of an actor is visible, perhaps in their purest form ever on screen. Brando is not acting; he is living the role of one who is left and confused by love. His acting in the movie seems a bit unsure, which relates the contrasting emotions of Paul, his character.
Above all other scenes in this movie, Brando's encounter with the body of his dead wife is a testament to his ability to transcend his role as an actor. The screen seems to almost dissappear, and we are left with Brando and his dead wife, not an actor and an actress. This scene makes me feel, it causes emotions to rise from my heart. This is the ability of a truly great film.

Rating:
Summary: For Brando Fans, It Doesn't Get Better Than This!
Review: Marlon Brando's recent death effected me deeply. He has always been one of my favorite actors and I truly admire him for his extraordinary talent. During the last few weeks I have rented many of Brando's films and am still amazed, after all these years, at the force of his acting in "Last Tango In Paris." I believe that some of his best work was done in this film.

Paul, (Brando), an aging American expatriate in Paris, comes home to discover that his marriage has ended. His French wife, Rosa, had slit her veins, leaving bloody bath water and spattered walls behind. She didn't leave much else - no good-bye note or explanation for her husband, parents or lover, a guest in the fleabag hotel she owned and managed. She did bequeath the hotel, and it's seedy occupants, to Paul. Overwhelmed with grief, Paul walks the streets and finds himself looking at an apartment for rent. He finds Jeanne, (Maria Schneider), a girl-woman, barely out of her teens, looking at the same apartment. She is to be married in a few weeks to her bourgeois, filmmaker fiancee. Paul and Jeanne circle each other warily in the empty flat, each contemplating the rental, (and each other), and wondering who will take it. Suddenly, they grab each other and have hard, fast sex against the apartment wall. Thus begins a most bizarre relationship.

Paul makes the rules. Jeanne must follow them or she will not see him again. Their purely carnal relationship must remain anonymous, emotionless, and exist only within the walls of the apartment, which Paul rents for this purpose. There are to be no sexual taboos between them. He does not want to know her name or anything about her and refuses to give her any information about himself. They are not to see each other outside the apartment confines, nor even leave together. It seems as if Paul wants to bury his pain, his sense of betrayal and hurt in the mindless, sometimes brutal, act of sex. Director Bernardo Bertolucci's camera perfectly captures the impersonal nature of their coupling. The shots are blunt, without sensuality or eroticism, but an enormous sexual energy is captured. I think Jeanne is fascinated by the mystery that is Paul. She is bored, perhaps, and looking for something, maybe excitement. She is certainly intrigued by Paul's dominant role, and seems to enjoy playing the passive partner most of the time. She is clearly not happy with her boyfriend, who relates to her as the object of his latest film. He talks at her, not to her. And he does not listen. However, I do not see Jeanne as merely an object here, as do some others. The film focuses on Paul, not Jeanne.

It is unfortunate that Ms. Schneider's career fizzled after this movie. She is excellent as Jeanne and perfectly captures her character's capriciousness, playfulness, bewilderment, vulnerability, anger, frustration, seductiveness and curiosity. Brando is simply superb. There are times, when he and Jeanne are together, that it appears as if he is extemporizing. He acts as if there is no camera filming him - as if he is not acting at all. There is one scene, where he is alone with his wife's body - she is layed-out in a coffin. Brando begins to speak to her and just loses it. His remarkable outpouring of guilt and grief is probably the best acting I have ever seen.

Towards the end of the film there is a surreal ballroom scene where couples are dancing the tango. It is both haunting and memorable. The end is a bit of a letdown, but in a Brandoesque moment the actor comes to the rescue.

Bertolucci was very effected by the work of painter Frances Bacon, considered to be one of the best artists of the 20th century. He chose Brando after seeing a Bacon painting "of a man in great despair who had the air of total disillusionment." The "Last Tango In Paris," defined as "the most controversial film of an era," brought Bertolucci to international attention. It was nominated for two Academy Awards. Vittorio Storaro's cinematography adds to the cold, remote ambiance. His camera pans the colorless apartment and makes the viewing experience as impersonal as the couple's relationship.

This is obviously not a film for everyone. It has been called obscene, and worse. However, there are many, like myself, who think it is a great film. For fans of Marlon Brando, it doesn't get better than this. Bravo!
JANA

Rating:
Summary: Unappealing and unnecessarily perverted
Review: I went into this film thinking that I would see an unorthodox film involving sex. I've seen many films that could fit this description such as "Happiness" by Todd Solondz and "Romance" by Catherine Breillat, but unlike those films, I failed to see a point in this one.
The sex scenes were extremely grotesque in their graphic and perverse nature, especially the scene involving sodomy.
I can't say I would reccommend this film to anyone. The reason that it gets 2 stars out of 5 is because I think Marlon Brando was very convincing and entertaining, I just failed to see the point in this film as a whole and therefore I cannot give it a good rating.


Rating:
Summary: little plot, unerotic, but nice photography
Review: This movie is overrated. The plot is quite weak. I did not find it erotic at all.

There is a fair amount of sex, but the characters of Paul (Marlon Brando) and Jeanne (Maria Schneider) are insufficiently developed. We learn that Paul's wife recently killed herself, but other than that the affair between them appears to be driven by boredom, escapism, and chance. What are the characters feeling, other than animal attraction?? Brando's acting is excellent, but with such a weak plot, it seems a waste. The cinematography is very nice - lots of darkness.