Bernardo Bertolucci’s film will ultimately not be screened at the Cinémathèque, in “a concern for appeasement”. The programming of this film, including a rape scene shot without the consent of its actress, had been controversial for several days.
The Cinémathèque française announced on Saturday the cancellation of the screening of Last tango in Parisa film including a rape scene shot without the consent of its actress Maria Schneider, in the face of outcry from feminist associations.
“In the interest of calming minds, and in view of the security risks involved, the Cinémathèque française is canceling the screening of Last tango in Parisscheduled for this Sunday at 8 p.m.”, indicates the institution on the social network
This 1972 film evokes the morbid and sulfurous relationship between an American widower passing through Paris and a very young woman.
“Double viol”
This closed session reaches its climax in a scene of non-consensual sodomy.
This rape scene, which earned the X-rated film the wrath of the Vatican, entered the history of cinema, before symbolizing sexual violence in the 7th art years later: although simulated, the scene was imposed on the actress, a minor at the time, and will break her. She will talk about it as soon as the film is released, evoking a double rape on the part of the actor and the director, who had decided on the scene without talking to her about it.
The film’s programming has been denounced for several days by actress Judith Godrèche, a figure in the #MeToo movement in France, who deplored in particular the lack of contextualization of the film and the lack of respect towards the actress who died in 2011.
The 50/50 collective, which fights for parity in cinema, also called on X for “thoughtful mediation that respects the words of the victim, the actress Maria Schneider”. For its part, the SFA-CGT union recalled that “filming and broadcasting rape remains reprehensible”.
“Today, we know. We cannot pretend not to understand and see the significance of this rape scene,” the union wrote.
The Cinémathèque had promised on Friday “a time for discussion with the public” before the screening, “about the questions” that its screening raised.
