This was the film that was supposed to be the cinematic "Rite of Spring". I don't think that is the case, but this is still a classic nonetheless. The plot is familiar: older American man and younger French woman (girl, really) have a series of anonymous sexual encounters in a Parisian apartment. Brando's performance has been dissected with a pair of tweezers, but it still holds up as masterful stuff, especially the monologue with his wife's corpse. (This, almost moreso than "The Godfather", solidified Brando's reputation for posterity.) Schneider holds her own (amazing, considering she was only twenty), and does a fantastic job portraying a naive young woman who oozes raw sensuality. Brando's arc of descent is terrifying, as he ends up sexually brutalizing Schneider; later, she shoots him. Very graphic and no-holds-barred, not for anyone under eighteen, but brilliant and one to own.
Review of Last Tango in Paris
