Last Tango in Paris (1972) Ultimo tango a Parigi (original title)

Director:

Bernardo Bertolucci

Writers:

Bernardo Bertolucci (story)
Bernardo Bertolucci (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

7 February 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A young Parisian woman begins a sordid affair with a middle-aged American businessman who lays out ground rules that their clandestine relationship will be based only on sex.

Plot Keywords:

Apartment | Suicide | Sex | Love | American Expatriate

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Marlon Brando	...	Paul
Maria Schneider	...	Jeanne
Maria Michi	...	Rosa's Mother / La mère de Rosa
Giovanna Galletti	...	Prostitute / La prostituée
Gitt Magrini	...	Jeanne's Mother / La mère de Jeanne
Catherine Allégret	...	Catherine (as Catherine Allegret)
Luce Marquand	...	Olympia
Marie-Hélène Breillat	...	Monique (as Marie-Helene Breillat)
Catherine Breillat	...	Mouchette
Dan Diament	...	TV Sound Engineer / L'ingénieur du son
Catherine Sola	...	TV Script Girl / La script-girl
Mauro Marchetti	...	TV Cameraman / Le cameraman
Jean-Pierre Léaud	...	Tom - un cinéaste, le fiancé de Jeanne (as Jean-Pierre Leaud)
Massimo Girotti	...	Marcel
Peter Schommer	...	TV Assistant Cameraman / L'assistant-opérateur
Veronica Lazar	...	Rosa
Rachel Kesterber	...	Christine
Ramón Mendizábal	...	Tango Orchestra Leader / Le chanteur de l'orchestre de tango
Mimi Pinson	...	President of Tango Jury / Le président du concours de tango
Darling Légitimus	...	La concierge
Gérard Lepennec	...	Un déménageur
Stéphan Koziak	...	Un déménageur
Armand Abplanalp	...	Prostitute's Client / Le client de la prostituée
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Laura Betti	...	Miss Blandish (scenes deleted)
Jean-Luc Bideau	...	Le capitaine de la péniche (scenes deleted)
Michel Delahaye	...	Bible Salesman / Le vendeur de bibles (scenes deleted)
Gianni Pulone	...	Man on street (scenes deleted)
Franca Sciutto	...	Woman on street (scenes deleted)

Directed by
Bernardo Bertolucci

Writing credits
Bernardo Bertolucci		(story)
Bernardo Bertolucci		(screenplay) and
Franco Arcalli		(screenplay)
Agnès Varda		(adaptation: French dialogue) (as Agnes Varda)
Jean-Louis Trintignant		dialogue collaborator

Produced by
Alberto Grimaldi	....	producer

Original Music by
Gato Barbieri		(music composed by)

Cinematography by
Vittorio Storaro		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Franco Arcalli
Roberto Perpignani

Production Design by
Philippe Turlure

Set Decoration by
Philippe Turlure

Costume Design by
Gitt Magrini

Makeup Department
Maud Begon	....	makeup artist
Iole Cecchini	....	hairdressing (as Jole Cecchini)
Phil Rhodes	....	makeup artist (as Philip Rhodes)

Production Management
Gérard Crosnier	....	production manager: France (as Gerard Crosnier)
Mario Di Biase	....	production manager
Enzo Ocone	....	post-production supervisor
Francis Peltier	....	assistant production manager
Enzo Provenzale	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Franco Arcalli	....	third assistant director
Jean-David Lefebvre	....	second assistant director (as Jean David Lefebvre)
Fernand Moszkowicz	....	assistant director

Art Department
Maria Paola Maino	....	set designer
Maria Paola Maino	....	set dresser
Albert Rajau	....	assistant set designer
Ferdinando Scarfiotti	....	supervising set designer
Philippe Turlure	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Fausto Ancillai	....	sound mixer: English version
Luciano Anzellotti	....	sound effects (as Luciano Anzelotti)
Massimo Anzellotti	....	sound effects editor
Michael Billingsley	....	sound editor
Antoine Bonfanti	....	sound engineer

Camera and Electrical Department
Luigi Bernardini	....	assistant cameraman
Luciano Galli	....	gaffer
Alfredo Marchetti	....	key grip
Mauro Marchetti	....	assistant cameraman
Alberico Novelli	....	electrician
Angelo Novi	....	still photographer
Enrico Umetelli	....	cameraman

Editorial Department
Gabriella Cristiani	....	assistant editor
Ernesto Novelli	....	printing supervisor
Elvio Sordoni	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Gato Barbieri	....	performer: saxophone solo
Oliver Nelson	....	conductor
Oliver Nelson	....	music arranger

Other crew
Suzanne Durrenberger	....	script supervisor (as Suzanne Durremberger)
Maurizio Forti	....	production accountant
Alberto Grimaldi	....	presenter
José Lichtig	....	production accountant (as Jose Lichtig)
Ginette Mejinsky	....	production secretary
Christian Ferry	....	development (uncredited)

Thanks
Francis Bacon	....	acknowledgment: titles background made with the kind permission of (as Mr. Francis Bacon)

Production Companies

• United Artists (presents)
• Les Productions Artistes Associés (co-production)
• Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA) (co-production) (as PEA Produzioni Europee Associate s.a.s.)

Distributors

• United Artists (1973) (USA) (theatrical)
• Les Artistes Associés (1972) (France) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD) (blu-ray)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• Cinema Mondo (2003) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Nova Film (1973) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Park Circus (2007) (UK) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1973) (Finland) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2002) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (Czech Republic)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (laserdisc)
• Eagle Pictures (2007) (Italy) (DVD)
• Gativideo (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Gativideo (2002) (Argentina) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"Ultimo tango a Parigi" - France (original title)

MPAA:

Rated NC-17 for some explicit sexual content (re-rating) (1997)

Runtime:

136 min | Australia:129 min | USA:127 min (R-rated version) | USA:129 min (NC-17 version) | Italy:250 min (original cut) | Spain:124 min (DVD edition) | Norway:129 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 (video rating) (1988) (uncut) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | Australia:R | Chile:18 | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM18 (original rating) (cut) | New Zealand:(Banned) (original rating) | New Zealand:R18 (re-rating) | Norway:18 | Portugal:(Banned) (1973-1974) | Portugal:M/18 | South Korea:(Banned) (original rating) | South Korea:18 (re-rating) (1996) (uncut) | Sweden:15 | USA:NC-17 (re-rating) (1997) | USA:R (cut version: 1981) | USA:X (original rating: 1973) | USA:X (re-rating) (1982) | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2000) (uncut) | West Germany:18 (original rating) (cut) | Italy:(Banned) (1972-1987) | Singapore:(Banned) | Brazil:14 | Argentina:X (original rating) | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Italy:VM14 (cut version) (1988) | Italy:VM18 (re-rated: 1987) (uncut) | Netherlands:18 (orginal rating)

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

United Artists

Trivia:

After the film's release in Europe, director Bernardo Bertolucci, producer Alberto Grimaldi, Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider were all indicted by a court in Bologna, Italy for making the film under the term "ultalitarian pornography". They were all acquitted of the charge shortly thereafter with Bertolucci losing his civil rights (including his right to vote) for five years.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Paul and Jeanne are at the sinks together, she says, "I prefer to be a whore." Her lips do not move during that line.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Paul:[with his hands over his ears at the overwhelming sound of a passing train] Fucking GOD!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Office: Pool Party (#8.12)" (2012)

Soundtrack:

Why Did She Choose You

Knocking the Briefs Off "Brief Encounter"

"Last Tango In Paris" stirred up a firestorm of controversy when United Artists released it back in 1972. Over thirty eventful years have passed since it weathered a battle over its alleged obscenity, but Bernardo Bertolucci's acclaimed erotic classic hasn't aged well at all. In fact, "Last Tango" should have been renamed "Last Tedium In Pretentiousness." Okay, ace lenser Vittorio Storaro deserves top marks for his moody, evocative photography, but the rest of this muddled nonsense is just that: NONSENSE! Perhaps we can forgive Bernardo for this dreary, depressing, drivel. Overrated in every department aside from its cinematography, "Last Tango" doesn't even seem erotic now, even if it ever were. I saw this crap when it came out and it seemed like an exercise in random hopelessness. Brando is a great actor, but not here as a person for whom we have not the least sympathy much less understanding. By the time that we meet him we learn that his wife committed suicide in the tub and splashed blood everywhere. So all we know is that he is grief-stricken beyond the point of no return. The idea of making a movie about two lonely people who connect for sex at a neutral locale and deny themselves the faintest pleasure in terms of knowing who they are screwing looks like something Bernardo came up with while sitting in a 42nd Street grindhouse. I wouldn't even describe this epic as obscene. Sure, sexy Maria Schneider flaunts full frontage nudity, but the sex scenes are so tame that you'll want to yawn and roll over. They rank right down there with the sex scenes between Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange in the remake of "The Postman Always Rings Twice." Anybody who calls "Last Tango" obscene hasn't been to a movie in thirty years. Even when I originally watched it in obscure movie theater in Starkville, Mississippi near MSU, I detested the obligatory scenes involving her boyfriend Tom (Jean-Pierre Leaud) as the filmmaker who follows Schneider as the focus for a documentary that he is producing. They say that the original cut of "Last Tango" ran 4 hours and they chopped half of that out, so why didn't they axe this useless subplot? The Schneider character is just as one-dimensional as the Brando character, except that we know that she can shoot her father's pistol with accuracy. Indeed, Bernardo does everything that he can to make Paris look like a hovel. Shrinks will probably love this movie as well as pretentious art critics who love to fawn over films that make no sense and in making no sense justify senselessness. Oh, yes, the Gato Barbieri sax solos ooze atmosphere in what boils down to ramped up sexual variation on "Brief Encounter." Happily, Bernardo made better movies before "Last Tango," and he made better movies after "Last Tango."