Great Films: The Last Tango in Paris. Maria and Marlon
Great performances of Maria Schneider and Marlon Brando. 1972. Franco-Italian production
As was his practice in previous films, Brando refused to memorize his lines for many of the scenes. Instead he wrote his lines on cue cards and posted them around the set, leaving Bertolucci with the problem of keeping them out of the picture frame. During his long monologue over the body of his wife, for example, Brando’s dramatic lifting of his eyes upward is not spontaneous dramatic acting but a search for his next cue card.Brando asked Bertolucci if he could “write lines on Maria’s rear end,” which the director rejected.
