Althouse: "I wanted her to react humiliated. I think she hated me and also Marlon because we didn't tell her... to obtain something I think you have to be completely free."

December 3, 2016

"I wanted her to react humiliated. I think she hated me and also Marlon because we didn't tell her... to obtain something I think you have to be completely free."

"I didn't want Maria to act her humiliation, her rage, I wanted her to Maria to feel ... the rage and humiliation. Then she hated me for all of her life."

Bernardo Bertolucci confirms what the actress Maria Schneider said about the filming of the "butter" scene in "Last Tango in Paris." Schneider is dead now, as is Marlon Brando, who was 48 when Schneider was 19, and he and Bertolucci conspired to surprise her and extract "her reaction as a girl, not as an actress."

54 comments:

Etienne said...: I remember the scene. There was an older couple in front of us in the theater. The woman had already been disgusted by the previous scenes, and her husband kept pulling away from her. He was telling her it wasn't that bad.

Then the scene came and the woman ran out of the theater. Her husband was disgusted with her, but he slowly went down the stairs and exited the theater. I felt sorry for her being dragged into that filth.

I found the scene obscene. I was only 18. I think the worst part, was I didn't find Brando very appealing. He looked like an insurance salesmen in a cheap whorehouse. The movie was a dud, but the filth made it famous.

Only "The Exorcist" had as many women running out of the theater.; 12/3/16, 3:37 PM
rcocean said...: Parkay or Butter? Or couldn't she tell the difference.

BTW, you can purchase Parkay AND Butter from the Amazon Portal.

Not too sure about the Anal rape.; 12/3/16, 3:40 PM
SukieTawdry said...: Then there was the director who needed a recalcitrant child actor to cry so he told the kid his dog died. (Was that Jackie Cooper??)

I didn't think I would like Last Tango, but I did. I thought it was one of Brando's most interesting performances. Schneider said because of that scene, the film ruined her life. Sure, it may have been a dirty trick, but come on, Maria, it's not like you were making "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm."; 12/3/16, 3:57 PM
mockturtle said...: Is this considered method acting?; 12/3/16, 4:01 PM
Michael K said...: It always interest me that leftists regard actors as some sort of sage.

It's make believe ! The young woman should have slapped the two of them silly but she was already there and doing the scene.

Times have changed. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" was pretty graphic. Nobody said anything.; 12/3/16, 4:04 PM
Anonymous said...: The scene would have worked better with cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil instead of butter.; 12/3/16, 4:06 PM
Rob said...: It's a great and underappreciated movie. Pauline Kael's review is classic, as is Norman Mailer's response (gated online).; 12/3/16, 4:06 PM
Etienne said...: SukieTawdry said......but come on, Maria, it's not like you were making "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm."

I think by that, she mean't she wanted to become an actress, but after that movie she was just a sex object.

The funny thing was, she was living with Brigitte Bardot at the time, and you'd think that Bardot could have helped her through all that. Instead she turned to drugs.

People are strange...; 12/3/16, 4:07 PM
bagoh20 said...: I think when Trump said you can grab them by the pussy, he was talking about women wanting fame and men using that to get "permission". This is video of what Trump was talking about. The left thought it was just great art back then.; 12/3/16, 4:14 PM
traditionalguy said...: Butter her butt boys. There is a method actor on the set.

But comparing it to Hitchcock's Psycho shower scene, that scene was a puff piece. I just want to know how Janet Leigh managed to live with that.; 12/3/16, 4:15 PM
Bob Loblaw said...: That's a rotten thing to do to someone. It's not surprising though, since that industry seems to attract terrible people.; 12/3/16, 4:33 PM
chickelit said...: Bertolucci can take it up the ass in Hell for an eternity.; 12/3/16, 4:56 PM
Jaq said...: Sort of did to movies what Bill Clinton did to politics.; 12/3/16, 5:03 PM
Michael K said...: Pennsylvania seems to be doing something similar to Republican electors.; 12/3/16, 5:06 PM
Bob Ellison said...: What a disgusting human!; 12/3/16, 5:06 PM
Expat(ish) said...: I took a (first) date to that movie - we both thought it was an art film. This was in the early 80's so no way to know otherwise.

Never went out again together.

-XC; 12/3/16, 5:21 PM
MayBee said...: How could it have been worth it to the two men?
To rape a girl for art?

Besides....I think an actress could have acted that. There was no need to do what they did. Except they wanted to.; 12/3/16, 5:26 PM
William said...: That scene was a lot more shocking when it first came out. I've read that when that poor girl went out in public she was jeered at unmercifully. When she dined out, there was always someone who thought it original and hilarious to wave a butter patty at her. No art house film is worth destroying someone's life for.....,,That actor in Deliverance, the one who was ordered to squeal like a pig also had a rough time afterwards. People were always screaming "Squeal like a pig" at him in public. Not much fun when you're out with the wife and kids.; 12/3/16, 5:28 PM
FullMoon said...: Everything's better with Blue Bonnet on it !

When I see an actress-like Hallee Berry showing their tits, I wonder if she was aware that was going to be part of the film. Or, does horny director approach during filming and convince actress that a nude scene would really, really add to the product?; 12/3/16, 5:30 PM
donald said...: Ned Beatty's career was cemented in Deliverance.; 12/3/16, 5:30 PM
mccullough said...: The flick tried too hard to be artistic. Ending would have been better if she just shot him, he dropped, and she walked out; 12/3/16, 5:35 PM
Mark said...: IMDB shows that Deliverance was Ned Beatty's first role. He had a long and active career afterward.; 12/3/16, 5:35 PM
Professional lady said...: I remember seeing that film when it came out. My husband and I went with another couple. All of us found the incessant, meaningless sex scenes depressing and boring. Even the two guys were turned off by the end of the movie.; 12/3/16, 6:02 PM
Jupiter said...: I'll bet the asshole made damn sure there were blanks in that gun.; 12/3/16, 6:10 PM
Jupiter said...: coupe said...
"The movie was a dud, but the filth made it famous."

Same goes for the director. And as for Marlon Brando, take the coathangaer out of yer mouth. No, wait, put it back in.; 12/3/16, 6:18 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Just think how much hotter that scene would have been if Marlon Brando was a dwarf wearing a hockey mask!; 12/3/16, 6:24 PM
mikee said...: Ned Beatty wasn't as surprised as the female was, I think. And there was some retribution, as I recall, for young Ned.; 12/3/16, 6:28 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Expat(ish): Not quite the same, but I went on a first date to Apocalypse Now and it had a similar effect.; 12/3/16, 6:31 PM
Zach said...: It's a really great film, and an unforgettable scene. It might have been Brando's last real acting masterpiece.

But not telling her about the scene and letting her prepare... It just seems cruel. You're taking the best scene of her career away from her and turning it into something she has to live down.; 12/3/16, 7:23 PM
Zach said...: It's also a classic case of Hollywood sexism. Say what you want about the movie (it's great!), but it is literally more interested on the psychological impact of a semi rape on the skeevy old guy committing it than on the young girl experiencing it.

Granted, the skeevy old man is Marlon Brando, and his psychological torment really is more interesting in the context of the movie. But ask Maria Schneider about whether the woman's side has any torment involved, and you might get an interesting answer.; 12/3/16, 7:29 PM
MaxedOutMama said...: Well, that's rather disgusting. I have never seen the film, and this certainly doesn't make me more likely to do so.; 12/3/16, 7:39 PM
madAsHell said...: I fail to understand how anal sex is sexy. This was two men trying to humiliate a women on camera.
I'll bet Brando voted democrat.; 12/3/16, 8:13 PM
Laslo Spatula said...: “Pass the butter, please?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“What do I mean by that? I don’t mean anything, except wanting you to pass me the butter.”

“I’m sorry. I had a traumatic experience when I was young. It was an older man. We were in Paris.”

“I’m not sure I want to hear about you with some other guy. I was kinda hoping we’d just keep it light, as first dates go.”

“The older man, he used thick French butter. On my ass. To sodomize me.”

“That’s horrible.”

“It was. I will not lie. As I watch you prepare to butter your bread I feel violated, afraid.”

“I’ll stop buttering then bread, then…”

“Thank you, but it’s no use. For instance, when you drink your water…”

“My water?”

“Yes. It reminds me how he would fish out ice cubes from the water glass by the bed and push them up my asshole while I was asleep. The ice cubes were very cold, like… ice.”

“He doesn’t sound like a very nice man.”

“No. He had brooding charisma, but a cold heart. He — oh, no…”

“What is wrong? I stopped buttering, I stopped buttering…”

“Your soup. Is it Minestrone?”

“Yes, yes it is.”

“The man, in Paris, he sodomized me with Minestrone. He would force Minestrone soup up my ass.”

“What? How exactly does one force minestrone soup up another person’s ass? Soup doesn’t seem — I don’t know — that ‘forcible’…”

“Well, actually it was the ingredients for minestrone soup. He would begin with a large carrot. A fresh garden carrot.”

“Oh my…”

“Then would come the celery stalks. Followed by the green beans. A carrot, celery stalks, and green beans: he would coat my buttocks with extra-virgin olive oil and then put them up my asshole, one by one.”

“I think I get the picture…”

“The oregano and basil were the worst: the teaspoon would be so cold and lifeless, so unlike a lover…”

“Okay, okay: I’ve stopped eating my soup…”

“It is too late: you already put salt in it.”

“Salt? He would ass-rape you with salt?”

“A salt-shaker, yes. Fine French crystal, with a silver top full of tiny, tiny holes. He would put the salt shaker up my ass, and then have me dance above him, the salt drifting down upon him as he screamed.”

“He screamed?”

“Did I not tell you? His chest was covered in open wounds that never would completely heal. He said Life did that to him. He took perverse pleasure from the salt from my ass sprinkling into his weeping wounds.”

“Maybe we should just call it a night…”

“Really? I was really looking forward to my meal. I love spaghetti.”

“Are you sure this French guy never put cooked spaghetti up your ass?”

“Don’t be silly. How on earth can one put cooked spaghetti noodles up another person’s ass? The noodles are limp: you cannot push them, no matter now hard you try: it is futile…”

“Sure, sure…”

“I cannot believe that you asked such a silly question. Putting limp noodles in someone’s ass: it is preposterous.”

“I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“I know what you were doing. You were making fun of me. You were making fun of the brooding older French man putting things in my ass. I should know better by now: no man will truly understand my pain.”

“Look, I’m sorry you had to put up with this old French guy’s ass issues, but this is a little too heavy for me…”

“I’m sorry to trouble you. I HAVE made progress. For what it’s worth, I have psychologically sublimated my ass issues into an insatiable desire to suck cock.”

“Uh… maybe we should wait for the meals, after all.”

“That would be nice, thank you.”

“So: you really like to suck cock?”

“Indeed. I find it therapeutic.”

“Therapeutic is good….”

The only problem is that every man’s ejaculate now tastes like Minestrone…”

I am Laslo.; 12/3/16, 8:20 PM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/3/16, 8:27 PM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/3/16, 8:28 PM
Bob R said...: The quotes and clips presented here make it seem like penetrative rape took place. There are several posts going around saying that all parties were clear on the fact that all of the sex scenes were simulated. That's a big difference to me. Coercing someone to act/simulate something is different from forcing them to do it. Still pretty sleazy. Good that you can't get away with that today.; 12/3/16, 10:20 PM
chickelit said...: madAsHell said...
I fail to understand how anal sex is sexy. This was two men trying to humiliate a women on camera.
I'll bet Brando voted democrat.

The last time I saw Brando alive, he was a guest on the Tonight Show (couldn't say if Johnny was hosting -- I think not). He was bloated beyond belief and spent airtime chomping scarfing cookies, talking with his mouthful. I think this was during the time his children were causing him great grief. He looked to be in pain. He didn't live much longer.; 12/3/16, 10:28 PM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: There's a scene in The Bicycle Thief when the son has to cry. I heard that to get the boy to cry right, De Sica slipped something in the kid's pocket, then angrily accused him of stealing it while the cameras rolled.; 12/3/16, 11:00 PM
Zach said...: Laslo, that was a classic.

The quotes and clips presented here make it seem like penetrative rape took place.

Well, no. It's a rape scene, and in context it's semi-consensual. But it's a pretty mean trick to spring on someone that they have to pretend to be raped, on camera, right now. And the scene is memorable enough that Schneider never lived it down.; 12/3/16, 11:17 PM
rcocean said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/3/16, 11:45 PM
rcocean said...: Basically, the actress had to pretend to have anal sex when no one told her before hand that Brando was going to pretend to have anal sex with her.

So, it was sort of pretend *surprise* anal sex, as opposed to pretend sex which was done throughout the rest of the picture.

So, in a way it was like rape. Not - as Whoppi Goldberg would say "rape rape" or even date rape or even well any kind of actual rape. It was pretend movie sex without foreknowledge - which is kinda like pretend rape - but not pretend "rape rape".

Anyway, she gets to pretend to shoot Brando at the end, so that should have squared accounts in the pretend world - but I guess not.; 12/3/16, 11:47 PM
rcocean said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/3/16, 11:57 PM
rcocean said...: Oh, and i forgot to add, that Pauline Kael and a whole bunch of female critics were turned on by the whole "pretend sex" with Brando thing. Kael practically had an orgasm and wrote that it was the greatest movie since Citizen Kane.

No one in 1973 seemed to think it was just a sleezy guy and dumb bimbo having sex in Paris because whatever. Instead it was like the greatest art film ever. With anal sex.

But - in their defense - they didn't know that the Gay director had the actress shoot a scene with anal sex and butter without her consent. She went into the scene thinking they were having fake sex and before she knew it, she was having fake anal sex.

But that's how women were treated back then. Althouse can tell you all about it.; 12/4/16, 12:01 AM
MayBee said...: If it wasn't actual penetration, never mind. Stupid controversy.
I'm sure she felt violated, but it was that kind of movie to begin with.

Is there any worse era for middle aged men's looks than that era? Brando looks like a sleazy creep. Richard Burton always looked the same creepy way. The guy you just know smells like booze and cigarettes and you wouldn't get in a car with for fear he'll either put his hand on your inner thigh or drunkenly drive off a bridge.; 12/4/16, 4:47 AM
David said...: Reading this put me in mind of Bill Clinton.; 12/4/16, 8:34 AM
Clyde said...: Funny but true: Right now, the top story on my news feed is about Hollywood's disgusted reaction to this story, complete with a black-and-white photo of Marlon Brando chasing after Maria Schneider.

Two stories below that is a photograph of a stick of butter illustrating a story about "The Best and Worth Health News of 2016."

I kid you not.; 12/4/16, 9:25 AM
jr565 said...: Is butter a good lubricant for anal sex? I imagine you might get a yeast infection from it.

What do i know.; 12/4/16, 11:13 AM
jr565 said...: why would she hate him forever? its not like Marlon actually greased her anus with butter and then screwed her in the butt. (or is this one of those movies where they actually had sex. In which case I totally agree with her outrage). Marlon simply did an ad lib. She was playing a character who was into sex with a man with no strings attached. But the idea that he might want anal from her would make her hate the director? This might explain why she didnt' do too many more movies.; 12/4/16, 11:17 AM
robother said...: "Snuff film" is so judgmental a term: I prefer Cinema Verite.; 12/4/16, 1:10 PM
jr565 said...: The real issue is that she had a lot of hangups about doing explicit sex scenes (evne though they weren't really THAT explicit) in front of a camera. And yet signed on to do this movie. Really, what was THAT different about this scene versus other scenes in the movie? That they SIMULATED anal sex and used butter as a prop? That was too risque?
She knew there was going to be a sex/rape scene that day, just not that it would suggest tehy would engage in anal sex. But all the other sex scenes up till that point were just fine?

This strikes me a lot like what Stephen Spielberg did during Saving Private Ryan. They had all the grunts who were going to save Private Ryan go through actual boot camp training. But didnt' do that with Matt Damon. So the actors would bring some degree of resentment to the film becuase they had to suffer for the movie, while he didn't. In this case it was a sexual scene that wasn't in the script.
The way it came abuot was, Marlon was sitting on the floor eating a sandwhich and had butter to put on the bread. Both he and Berardo looked at the butter and intuitively realized they could use it in the movie. And so incorporated it. Much of the dialogue was actually from Marlon's own life and he ad libbed much of it.

So if he she was caught off guard because it wasnt' in the script, well neither was a lot of the other dialogue. it was simply Marlon doing his method acting and Bertolluci using what was on hand to create realism between the actors.; 12/4/16, 2:17 PM
jr565 said...: (cont) but the whole interaction between the characters was sexual And ONLY sexual. that's part of the basis for their relationship in the movie. That they dont know each others names or story and just engage in casual sex.
From a standpoint of story, is it really that hard to believe that a phsyical relationship involving two people who are into each other carnally might have anal sex one day? Is that SO far fetched? within three minutes of meeting each other in the movie they are already fucking.
So, if Brando or Bertolucci assumed that brining in explicit sex implications into a movie about two people who's relationship is ordered around such a relationship is not hard to believe.
From Brando's perspective, the characters having anal sex would simply be an extension of their relationship. And since the movie was trying to push the envelope at the time, it went a bit further than other movies (again, at the time) it also showed such a base/lewd scene as opposed to leaving it out. But this is part of the realism they were going for.

The actress though, was a bit young and naive and maybe went into the movie thinking it wasn't going to be as explict as it was. and so, got blindsighted when they pushed the scene. But she did do it. She said she should have called her agent. But she didnt. And so, was left with ambivalence about filming a scene she may not have been comfortable filming.
Doesn't mean it was rape on the part of bertolucci.; 12/4/16, 2:25 PM
jr565 said...: zach wrote:
Well, no. It's a rape scene, and in context it's semi-consensual. But it's a pretty mean trick to spring on someone that they have to pretend to be raped, on camera, right now. And the scene is memorable enough that Schneider never lived it down.

Bertolucci later clarified that there was a rape/sex scene in the script. what they improvised was the use of butter. So perhaps it was that it was going to be a fake ANAL rape, as opopsed to a fake VAGINAL rape.; 12/4/16, 2:41 PM
Unknown said...: On the brighter side of film appreciation, I recently enjoyed Louis Malle's first movie from 1958 'Elevator to the Gallows' (Ascenseur pour l'échafaud) on the big screen at the Cleveland Institutue of Art Cinematheque--a blossoming effort of film exploration, http://www.cia.edu/cinematheque. Malle's effort is a detail-oriented, while minimalistic, story of intrigue and plot twists, visually enchanting with wonderful images of Paris and the 1950s cars are too cool. Here is a review on the cars used from the Cinematheque in Philadelphia:

The cars used in Elevator To The Gallows say a lot about the characters who use them, and of the societies they are a product of. The American convertible that would be the getaway car for Julien becomes the Bonnie & Clyde Death Car, at least in the imagination of semi-rebellious teen car thief Louis and his flower girl accomplice Veronique. Florence’s “baby” turns out to be a Renault Dauphin, the French equivalent to the Volkswagen Beetle, which also turned out to be the French Ford Pinto. And the unfortunate German tourists ride in a Mercedes 300 SL, the fastest car commercially available in the 1950’s, but in the end they wind up going nowhere fast.; 12/4/16, 10:12 PM
Jason said...: I can't believe it's not butter!; 12/5/16, 1:39 PM