Last Tango in Paris (1972)

Last Tango in Paris (Italian: Ultimo tango a Parigi) is a 1972 Franco-Italian romantic erotic drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci which portrays a recently widowed American who begins an anonymous sexual relationship with a young betrothed Parisian woman. It stars Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider, and Jean-Pierre Léaud.

The film's raw portrayal of sexual violence and emotional turmoil led to international controversy and drew various levels of government censorship in different venues. Upon release in the United States, the most graphic scene was cut and the MPAA gave the film an X rating. After revisions were made to the MPAA ratings code, in 1997 the film was re-classified NC-17 for "some explicit sexual content". Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released a censored R-rated cut in 1981.

Synopsis

Paul (Marlon Brando), a middle-aged American hotel owner mourning his wife's suicide, meets a young, engaged Parisian woman named Jeanne (Maria Schneider) at an apartment that both are interested in renting. Paul takes the apartment after they begin an anonymous sexual relationship there. He insists that neither of them share any personal information, not even given names. The affair continues until one day Jeanne arrives at the apartment and finds that Paul has packed up and left without warning.

Actors