By Roger Costa
BEING MARIA
Scandals usually make up for a good piece of entertainment. Not only tabloids and gossip readers love a little spicy scandal, but society in general turn their attention, entirely, to a new scandal. When it comes to celebrities and fame, the public-engagement tends to be even higher. Just recently, we all had opinions on cases involving Oscar nominated trans actress Karla Gascon, the Blake Lively/Baldoni dispute, the accusations against Kevin Spacey, Jonathan Majors’ domestic violence story and Armie Hammer’s supposed cannibalism, to name a few.
It took over 50 years since a filmmaker decided to finally shed a light on the most notorious and controversial scandal in the history of modern cinema: the divisive rape/butter scene performed by Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider in Bernardo Bertolucci’s banned and infamously erotic “Last Tango in Paris”. Kudos to director Jessica Palud for crafting an enigmatic and crowd-pleasing piece of “cinematic scandal” with the same intensity as it is an accurate, elegant and sensitive female character study. Palud proves strength and authenticity with her visual and narrative choices, the use of close-ups, the changing of pace and tone in the story (from a melodrama about a marginalized woman to a raw take on the me-too movement), and mostly how to fully explore the talent of Romanian actress Anamaria Vartolomei.
Since her breakthrough role in “Happening”, Vartolomei became one of world-cinema’s most promising and daring young stars. Not to mention she is among the most gorgeous actresses of our era. As Maria, she gives her most impressive performance yet, a stunning combination of innocence, melancholy, sensuality, self-destruction and emotional conflicts. Her character is lively, a woman who’d give it all for her artistry and passion for acting but would suffer with unexpected circumstances and troubled relationships. Her jealous and abusive mother had kicked her out, and then she finds a chance at this new, polemic, “not for families” film as the director describes. The fact Marlon Brando (a riveting turn by Hollywood legend Matt Dillon) is in it turns her interest higher, but she is unaware of the secret behind the sexual complexity and veracity of the script.
After the film’s turbulent and polemic release, Maria has to deal with the lack of opportunities and her stained public image, when suddenly, the truth behind that infamous scene surfaces: the butter scene wasn’t in the script, therefore, she wasn’t acting, and had been a victim of rape, imagined and executed in film. That’s when director Palud confirms her as a major filmmaker, while Anamaria reaches the acting privilege similar to those regards to Isabelle Huppert, Deneuve and a young Adjani. Meaning, Anamaria can easily lead a film, her name is reason enough to get that ticket. Her acting maturity is also challenged when she becomes socially decadent, heroin addict and mentally ill. She hides her gripping beauty in those heartbreaking scenes, delivering a haunting and disturbing portray of desperation and hopelessness, instantly conquering any movie lover’s admiration.
A dark and bold look at the complications involving a film’s production, Palud scores a precisely told, intense and seductive, polemic and impactful sex-cinema-scandal like the old good days. (Kino Lorber. Opens Thursday, March 20 at Quad Cinema NYC. Actor Matt Dillon and Producer Marielle Duigou in attendance at select screenings. Go to https://quadcinema.com/film/being-maria/ for details)
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