They only told me about it before we had to film the scene and I was so angry,” she said. The truth is it was Marlon who came up with the idea. “That scene wasn’t in the original script. She told the Daily Mail she only learned about the scene before they shot it. Schneider, who died of cancer in 2011, said that while no intercourse took place, she “felt a little raped, both by Marlon and Bertolucci” after the one-take scene. I feel sick,” the actress tweeted.Īlso Read: 'Last Tango in Paris' Rape Scene Controversy Sparks Another Round of Hollywood Disgust
“To all the people that love this film- you’re watching a 19yr old get raped by a 48yr old man. I wanted her to react and she felt humiliated… and I think that she hated me and also Marlon because we didn’t tell her that there was that detail of the butter used as a lubricant.”Ī number of Hollywood stars and filmmakers - including Chris Evans, Ava DuVernay and Jessica Chastain - weighed in with disgust over the weekend.Ĭhastain is among those who seems to have interpreted Bertolucci’s quote and the headlines about it to mean Schneider was literally raped. They didn’t tell Schneider about the idea, Bertolucci said, “because I wanted her reaction as a girl, not as an actress. Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2007, Schneider said that while what Brando was doing wasn’t real, she objected that the director and her co-star didn’t tell her well in advance about their plans for the scene.īertolucci said in the 2013 interview that he and Brando decided on the day they shot the rape scene that Brando’s character should use butter as a lubricant. (Yahoo’s headline said, “Bertolucci admits infamous Last Tango ‘butter’ rape scene was non-consensual.” Time tweeted, “‘Last Tango in Paris’ director admits controversial butter rape scene was really rape.”) The issue erupted over the weekend after a YouTube user posted Bertolucci’s 2013 Cinematèque Francais interview, and several news outlets ran headlines that some interpreted to mean Brando had raped Schneider as the cameras rolled. The only novelty was the idea of the butter.” That is false!”īertolucci added, “Maria knew everything because she had read the script, where it was all described. “Somebody thought, and thinks, that Maria had not been informed about the violence on her. That is where the misunderstanding lies,” the statement continued.
“We wanted her spontaneous reaction to that improper use. I specified, but perhaps I was not clear, that I decided with Marlon Brando not to inform Maria that we would have used butter.”Īlso Read: No, 'Last Tango in Paris' Director Did Not Say Marlon Brando Committed Rape “I would like, for the last time, to clear up a ridiculous misunderstanding that continues to generate press reports about ‘Last Tango in Paris’ around the world,” the Italian filmmaker said in a statement Monday. “Several years ago at the Cinematèque Francais someone asked me for details on the famous butter scene. In the scene in the 1972 film, Brando’s character rapes Schneider’s while using butter as a lubricant. “Last Tango in Paris” director Bernardo Bertolucci has called the outcry over a rape scene between stars Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider a “ridiculous misunderstanding.”