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The
Last Tango in Paris
might have been the
most disturbing
movie I’ve ever
seen. I was
expecting something
controversial… but
controversial for
the 1970’s. Maybe
some edgy
discussions and that
was about it. What
The
Last Tango in Paris
is exactly… I’m not
sure. But I do know
that it’s not for
everybody, and it
wasn’t for me.
The
Last Tango in Paris
is about a tortured
soul, Paul- played
by Marlon Brando and
his connection with
a curious young
woman Audrey (Maria
Schneider.) The two
meet by chance in an
apartment that’s up
for rent in Paris.
They both look at
the apartment and
oddly enough, they
just start having
sex. If that were
the peak of it’s
weirdness, that
would be fine, but
that’s just the
beginning. Paul
takes the apartment
and he tells Audrey
to meet him every so
often in the place
so they could have
primitive sex
without exchanging
names or connecting
on a personal level.
The two meet in the
apartment over and
over again
eventually they
become attached to
each other, but
Paul, being the
tortured soul he is,
shows his true
colors and it
doesn’t end well.
The
Last Tango in Paris
is controversial for
a reason and the way
these two interact
with each other;
especially the
entire character of
Paul... Is insane.
For a
movie that I didn’t
enjoy, I can
honestly say that I
respected the art of
it. Director
Bernardo Bertolucci
tackled a huge
subject and a very
controversial story
and made the movie
he wanted to make.
He used
French-speaking
actors for most of
the characters and
leaned heavily on
subtitles. When
you’ve got subtitles
dominating most of
the screen time and
something that’s
pretty controversial
as subject matter…
to make the movie he
made is admirable.
Bertolucci’s work is
good, but you have
to get the feeling
that Marlon Brando
would make any
director look good.
He delivered a very
powerful performance
in
The
Last Tango in Paris.
And by the end of
it, you hate his
character.
The Blu-ray release
of this movie looks
great and sounds
great. The look of
the movie is about
as good as it can
get, there’s no loss
in video quality and
you only see a few
rough spots in the
video during the
outdoor scenes in
the middle of the
movie. The audio
quality of the movie
is fantastic,
especially the
moments where the
score is utilized.
The sound is
impressive, the
video is above okay.
The extras on this
Blu-ray release are
non-existent. You’d
like to have
something talking
about how
controversial the
movie was for its
time or a short
featurette, but
instead all you get
is the theatrical
trailer.
The
Last Tango in Paris
is a movie I’ll
never watch again. I
can say that pretty
safely. I respect
the art that it took
to create it and
Brando’s performance
is nothing short of
excellent. The
subject matter of
the story wasn’t
something I
connected with and
something a lot of
people won’t be able
to connect with
either. I’m happy I
watched it so I can
talk about it, but
there are some
scenes that I’d love
to erase from my
memory.
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