Product: Last Tango in Paris (1973)
Rating: 5.0
Depressive Disappointing and Remarkable all at the same time
In this movie Brando gives, what was arguably the best performance of his career, as the widowed, distraught Paul, plunging into the very depths of nihilism and despair. However, what I did not like about this movie was the lack of character development for Jeanne (Schneider), the young Parisian, in which Paul (Brando) has his no names tryst with. I didn't understand why she fell for Paul, or why she was such a willing participant in these sexual escapades with him, was it low-self esteem, boredom, curiousity, what was it? I didn't really understand her. Nor did I connect with her character, and in fact, felt less than sympathetic for her and at times found her to be quite annoying. Also I was disappointed with the movie's ending. I didn't mind him being killed, because he wanted to die--he simply didn't have the guts or the will to pull the trigger. But what I didn't like, was that all of a sudden, Paul falls for Jeanne...out of nowhere--WHY?! What was the turning point, it just didn't make sense. I felt it was contrived, unrealistic and somewhat partronizing and unfair to the two main characters in the film. There needed to be some justification for this sudden change of behavior. I would have preferred Paul (Brando), after having his last "encounter" with Jeanne to simply disapear, and to have the audience along with Jeanne wondering, what had happened to him. Or perhaps would have preferred him becoming so delusional and broken from reality that he begins to see Jeanne as his dead wife Rose. I even think there is a part where Paul (Brando) calls her Rose--this was only hinted at, but it should have been more fully developed but unfortunately it was not. So instead we are left with him, overnight metamorphisizing from a nihilist to a jubiliant fop who miraculously falls in love with Jeanne and madly pursues her and wants to build a life with her, yet still, without even knowing her name.Despite these flaws, however, I feel this movie is still magnificient, giving a look into the psychology and depth of grief, anger, nihilism and despair, which more than makes up for its flaws. I found myself, deeply moved by Brando's performance. And realized he put alot of his own personal experiences into this movie, which for a Brando admirer, only heightened my appreciation for this movie.Visually this film has great coloration and is wonderfully shot, thanks to great cinematography by Vittorio Storaro. And the music by Gato Barbieri, is at times sultry as it is haunting.After watching this movie I was left feeling depressed, deeply moved, captivated and confused (because of the ending). Admittedly, in order to appreciate this movie, I had to be very open-minded. It's not a movie for everyone, nor is it a movie to gather the whole family around and eat popcorn and be entertained. But if you are willing to be open-minded, which is key, and put yourself in someone else's shoes--who finds his own unconventional and disturbing way to deal with his own grief, then you may find, like me, that Last Tango in Paris, is a flawed masterpiece with empty pieces to the puzzle, but is still a masterpiece nontheless.