His anger toward her reaches a boiling point that to me so clearly translates to the way he acts toward Jeanne. He blames her for his pain, and he claims she never truly loved him. Look at the anger he at first expresses to her. Let’s just take one other scene that is much more important than the “butter sex” scene, but much less talked about - the scene in which Paul confronts his dead wife. But it’s understandable on a basely emotional level. He uses Jeanne as a catalyst to express his anger, sadness, grief and pain.
The last tango in paris butter scene real how to#
How do we deal with grief? How do we deal with the loss of someone we loved? Paul is a man who I think doesn’t truly know how to deal with any of that. That one notorious “butter sex” scene has, I think, clouded what is otherwise a mostly haunting meditation on love, loss, and what it means to be human. I just watched Last Tango in Paris for the first time, and found it to be (although far from perfect), a truly emotionally draining experience. Not because of the psychology involved (which leaves a lot to be desired), but because of a stick of butter.
Unsurprisingly, both performances feel appallingly stilted – even though Schneider claimed her tears were real.Īnd to think that something as artificial as this scene remains one of the most indelible film sequences ever made. And someone to dub his voice as well, for the dialogue delivery of the soon-to-be two-time Oscar winner sounds like nails on a chalkboard. The “thrusting, jabbing eroticism” that Pauline Kael found so fascinating in her review of the film will feel erotic only to those who can’t spell the word “sex.”Īnd if Schneider was speaking the truth when she told journalists that Brando was the one who came up with the idea for the butter scene*, then the actor should have asked a body double to perform it in his place. Marlon Brando: Last Tango in Paris Blame GameĪfter Marlon Brando died in 2004, Maria Schneider watched Last Tango in Paris once again and found it “kitsch.” Watching the infamous butter scene below – in which Schneider’s character gets raped with a little butter used as lubricant – one can see why.