biopic on the actress Maria Schneider, too quickly a star, too quickly forgotten

An actress often reduced to a single film, “Last Tango in Paris” which turned her life upside down, Maria Schneider reveals herself in this evocation adapted from the biography of her cousin, Vanessa Schneider.

Actress in around forty films between 1972 and 2009, two years before her death from cancer, Maria Schneider did not experience the great career that was offered to her. Last Tango in Paris by Bernardo Bertolucci marked her with a hot iron by locking her into charming films, or sensual characters, even if she also worked with Michelangelo Antonioni or Luigi Comencini.

Dominated by the interpretation of Anamaria Vartolomei in the title role, itconfronted with the “monster” Marlon Brando, remarkably played by Matt Dillon, and served by a skin-deep staging, Maria hits theaters Wednesday June 19.

At the end of adolescence, after appearances in five films, Maria became a star, playing in the sulphurous Last tango in Paris where she is locked with Marlon Brando in a sexual lock-up. A cabal on the set caused a scandal and the film attracted crowds upon its release. Societal phenomenon, THE Last tango locks the actress into charming films, but that will not prevent her from seeing her acting talents recognized with directors such as Terence Young, Michelangelo Antonioni or Luigi Comencini.

Director Jessica Palud takes Maria Schneider’s point of view. Normal, since she was ignored like no other in 1972, because, a priori, malleable at will. There is a rumor about the filming of Last tango in Paris, according to which a scene of sodomy would be real, in this case classifying the film in category X. This is false, according to the actress, but the damage is done. The film grossed more than $36 million on its release for a budget of $1.2 million, at a time when eroticism is taking hold in theaters. Maria Schneider catapulted to stardom at 19 and was desired by directors.

Jessica Palud’s film does not stop at Last Tango, but deals with the before, during and after. Bertolucci’s film is the Gordian knot, the pivot that determines a destiny. Few notable films mark the career of Maria Schneider, who regularly remains on screen, but in supporting roles, as in The Evasion, rare sound first role being that of a vampire in disaster Mama Dracula (1980). More than career, what interests Jessica Palud is women, and the way men and directors look at them.

In the 70s, cinema was still a man’s world for men. The omnipresence of the woman on the screen, determined by the erotic relationship that the image exerts on the spectator, is increased tenfold by the nude on the screen. Consistency since the birth of art. It is perverted when it is at the crossroads of art and industry, as is cinema. Maria Schneider and The Last Tango in Paris arrive three years after 1968 and the birth of the MLF (Women’s Liberation Movement), whose emancipation also contributed to a liberation of the representation of the body on screen. With MariaJessica Palud exposes all the ambiguity.

Gender : Biopic / Drama
Director : Jessica Palud
Country : France
Duration : 1h40
Exit : June 19 2024
Distributer : Top and short

All public with warning

Synopsis: Maria is no longer a child and not yet an adult when she ignites the film of a sulphurous film that has become cult: The Last Tango in Paris. She quickly rose to fame and became an iconic actress without being prepared for either fame or scandal…