Wednesday, comes out on our screens Maria**, the second feature film by Jessica Palud. The French filmmaker returns to the broken destiny of Maria Schneider following the filming of Last Tango in Paris (1972) by Bernardo Bertolucci. With, at the heart of the film, the sexual assault suffered by the young woman during the famous rape and butter scene. A scene prepared the same morning by the director and his actor Marlon Brando (Matt Dillon on screen), without Maria Schneider (played by the excellent Anamaria Vartolomei) having been taken into the secret. The effect sought by Bertolucci having been achieved: tears and “No” repeated are not those of Jeanne, the character, but those of the young 19-year-old actress.
Last May, Jessica Palud presented Maria in the Cannes Première section on the Croisette, where we met her. “I started my career at 19she begins. I was an intern on The Dreamers by Bertolucci. I really admired Bernardo’s work and heard about this story. Maria was 19 years old when Last Tango in Paris and it’s true that it’s a story that made me ask myself questions. I heard a lot of things. And it stayed with me…”
”How far does art go?”
Jessica Palud then participated in numerous shoots, as first assistant director. “I have seen directors direct actors in a particular way, sometimes to the point of humiliation…”, remembers the filmmaker. Who then came across Your name was Maria Schneider, a novel by Vanessa Schneider dedicated to her cousin which she decided to adapt for the big screen. “I was shocked by the journey of a battered young woman who, very young in the 1970s, dared to say things. Faced with attacks and humiliation, many damaged people are unable to speak. Maria spoke. She had something very frontal about her. Except that we didn’t listen to her… Faced with an all-powerful artist, the words of a young woman were not heard, were silenced. I found it to be an interesting subject. How far does art go? ”asks Jessica Palud.
gullFor me, there is no art in betraying someone.
If the director does not comment on the question of “cancelling” or not Last Tango in Parisit’s a film that today, she can no longer see. “For me, there is no art when you betray someone. Bertolucci was a great director of actors. He could have used acting direction to get this scene. He didn’t need to do that. Indeed, it is considered a great film. Everyone has their own point of view, but I can’t look at it anymore. In any case, we can no longer watch this film the same way. Afterwards, I am not here to destroy Bertolucci. I am here to carry the voice of Maria Schneider. So that we listen to it once and for all.”
A scene imposed on its actress
To prepare her film, Jessica Palud did a lot of research. In particular, she found the scenario of Last Tango in Paris, where the rape scene is not written. She spoke to many people who participated in the filming. “It was important for me to know what really happened. But the important thing was not to show the ploy they put in place. The important thing was not to leave her and to stay with her feelings. […] Bertolucci actually went to see Maria, telling her he wanted something more intense. But he could have gone to see her and said: ‘We’re going to go further. I’m going to pull down your pants, we’re going to put butter between your buttocks and we’re going to simulate a sodomy scene.’ But he didn’t tell her that”, the director takes offense. Who wouldn’t imagine for a second acting like this with their young actress Anamaria Vartolomei. “If, all of a sudden, I set up the scene with the actor, we lowered Anamaria’s pants to the ground, we put butter between her buttocks and we trapped her for several minutes on the floor, with his “no” which was not written in the script, I think that today, Anamaria would leave the set.”
gullIt is very important that today, young actors entering the profession can say no.
In Mariaafter this scene of sexual assault, the camera pivots towards the film crew of the Last Tangowho remains stunned, but who does not dare to react… “Faced with such aggression today, there would be reactionsbelieves Jessica Palud. For several months, with all the movement that is happening in French cinema, I even think that a strong humiliation would no longer pass (as we saw recently with the accusations against Belgian director Joachim Lafosse, Editor’s note). Obviously, when you are a director, you want to have the most beautiful possible emotions, the most beautiful truths. But we can have it by working, by rehearsing, by seeking out emotions without necessarily going through acts of betrayal, violence or humiliation. It is very important that today, young actors who enter the profession can say no”concludes the filmmaker.
