![video last tango in paris butter scene video last tango in paris butter scene](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d5/LastTango.jpg)
All of the films mentioned above were milestones in filmmaking. While all of those statements may have some truth to them, they also betray a contemptuous ignorance of the medium. Or to point-out that the front projection and opto-mechanical technology used in 2001: A Space Odyssey is sorely outdated and inferior to computer generated effects. Or to hear a complaint that the portrayal of horror in Psycho is heavy-handed and cliché by today’s standards. It would be comparable to hearing a criticism of Citizen Kane include statements about how the use of flashback, deep focus, and overlapping dialog is no big deal because that is done routinely nowadays. To dismiss the ground-breaking representation of sexuality in Last Tango in Paris with blithe statements suggesting that that people in the ’70s, “… know what the word ‘explicit’ means,” not only displays an ignorance of film history, but also reveals an even broader anthropological naiveté-a condescending assumption that the culture and art of previous eras (even one as recent as the 1970s) only have value in as much as they conform to the culture and art of the present one.įor any student of film, hearing the essence of Last Tango derided with comparisons to the eroticism and pacing of contemporary films is ill-informed nonsense. I don’t believe the film is perfect, but it has more merit than not, and I think if one is willing, it offers some glimpses of some truly human emotions. When he is lost emotionally and psychologically, he has but the physical to retreat to.
![video last tango in paris butter scene video last tango in paris butter scene](https://smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital/nationalpost/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/marlon-brando.jpg)
Sex is a mechanism here, and Paul uses it as a tool to exploit emotions he can’t grapple with. I think Roger Ebert is right when he claims the two characters never actually “made love”.
![video last tango in paris butter scene video last tango in paris butter scene](https://img.maximummedia.ie/her_ie/eyJkYXRhIjoie1widXJsXCI6XCJodHRwOlxcXC9cXFwvbWVkaWEtaGVyLm1heGltdW1tZWRpYS5pZS5zMy5hbWF6b25hd3MuY29tXFxcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcXFwvdXBsb2Fkc1xcXC8yMDE2XFxcLzEyXFxcLzA0MjIxODQwXFxcL3BhcmlzMS5wbmdcIixcIndpZHRoXCI6NzAwLFwiaGVpZ2h0XCI6MzcwLFwiZGVmYXVsdFwiOlwiaHR0cHM6XFxcL1xcXC93d3cuaGVyLmllXFxcL2Fzc2V0c1xcXC9pbWFnZXNcXFwvaGVyXFxcL25vLWltYWdlLnBuZz9pZD1iNmY4NGQ2MjdiNDExNGYwMGY1MFwiLFwib3B0aW9uc1wiOltdfSIsImhhc2giOiI5YWE4M2Y0MzcyMWUwNDIxYmI5NTkzNDY1YzYyYjQyNjVjMzZjNGE3In0=/paris1.png)
When looking through this lens, I believe the “butter sex” scene becomes no less shocking than the first time Paul has sex with Jeanne, which is bordering on “rape”. The way he expresses it is through the most visceral of actions: sex.
#VIDEO LAST TANGO IN PARIS BUTTER SCENE HOW TO#
He has so much pent up emotion that he doesn’t know how to express, that he has no idea how to understand. His eventual breakdown in tears and expression of love for her makes it more understandable why he finally decides he wants Jeanne in his life as more than just a “thing”. His anger toward her reaches a boiling point that to me so clearly translates to the way he acts toward Jeanne. He blames her for his pain, and he claims she never truly loved him. Look at the anger he at first expresses to her. Let’s just take one other scene that is much more important than the “butter sex” scene, but much less talked about - the scene in which Paul confronts his dead wife. But it’s understandable on a basely emotional level. He uses Jeanne as a catalyst to express his anger, sadness, grief and pain. How do we deal with grief? How do we deal with the loss of someone we loved? Paul is a man who I think doesn’t truly know how to deal with any of that. That one notorious “butter sex” scene has, I think, clouded what is otherwise a mostly haunting meditation on love, loss, and what it means to be human. I just watched Last Tango in Paris for the first time, and found it to be (although far from perfect), a truly emotionally draining experience.
![video last tango in paris butter scene video last tango in paris butter scene](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HTa0oe5Ntvw/maxresdefault.jpg)
Not because of the psychology involved (which leaves a lot to be desired), but because of a stick of butter. Unsurprisingly, both performances feel appallingly stilted – even though Schneider claimed her tears were real.Īnd to think that something as artificial as this scene remains one of the most indelible film sequences ever made. And someone to dub his voice as well, for the dialogue delivery of the soon-to-be two-time Oscar winner sounds like nails on a chalkboard. The “thrusting, jabbing eroticism” that Pauline Kael found so fascinating in her review of the film will feel erotic only to those who can’t spell the word “sex.”Īnd if Schneider was speaking the truth when she told journalists that Brando was the one who came up with the idea for the butter scene*, then the actor should have asked a body double to perform it in his place. Marlon Brando: Last Tango in Paris Blame GameĪfter Marlon Brando died in 2004, Maria Schneider watched Last Tango in Paris once again and found it “kitsch.” Watching the infamous butter scene below – in which Schneider’s character gets raped with a little butter used as lubricant – one can see why.