The Film industry as reacted with disgust after Bernardo Bertolucci admitted that one of the most famous rape scenes in film history was actually shot without consent from the actor involved.
Actors including Chris Evans and Jessica Chastain have expressed disgust after a clip surfaced showing him confessing that Maria Schneider was unaware of certain elements during the filming of "Last Tango in Paris," so her reaction would appear more realistic and authentic. The interview, filmed in 2013, shows Bertolucci confessing to his guilt for how he treated Schneider, who died of cancer in 2011.
He talks of how he and Marlon Brando planned the assault by Brando’s character using a stick of butter as a lubricant to anally rape the woman, something that was not mentioned within the script. Although there was no penetration by Brando, described as a father figure by Schneider, he did dip his finger into the butter and used it to lubricate her anally, without any warning.
No intercourse, but shameful
Other stars, like Anna Kendrick, have noted that Bertolucci only now faces criticism despite Schneider making the same claims ten years previously. She told the Daily Mail in 2007 that no sexual intercourse took place but she felt what Brando was doing was very real. Schneider stated she wished she had called her agent or a lawyer but was unaware of legalities at that time.
The actress said that the tears seen on screen were real and she walked away feeling raped by both the actor and the director. The actress states that Brando never apologized and once the film was finished shooting she never spoke to Bertolucci again. For years after the film, because of the experience and the scandal that followed, Schneider dealt with depression and drug addiction.
Graphic movie shocked in the '70's
1972’s "Last Tango in Paris" is about a man who enters into an affair after his wife takes her own life. The graphic depictions of sex and rape shocked early 1970’s audiences and still remains one of the most controversial depictions of sex on the big screen. For many years there were rumours that the sex scenes were real but the actress has since debunked those theories.
