Review of Last Tango in Paris (1972) by Daniel M — 18 Oct 2007

A well observed film about how a man and woman converge in one place looking for different things. Paul (Marlon Brando) wants to escape. His wife has committed suicide. His mother-in-law is in town, and she is insufferable. He wants a place absent of identity, intimacy, and feeling. Jeanne (Maria Schneider) wants to connect. She's a girl who seems to roll with the punches but never throws any punches of her own, so she drifts from scene to scene, letting things happen to her. Her fiance is passionately in love with her, but only when the cameras are rolling. He's more obsessed with his verite film version of their love than actually in love with her. With Paul, she finds something truly passionate, carnal, authentic. Their relationship is tragic because each wants what the other can't give.

But it loses me a little bit towards the end. What is happening in those last scenes? Has Paul changed? Did his catharsis at the bedside of his deceased wife (a hailed scene that is impressive but overpraised to me) help him turn a corner? Or has he found a way to achieve the oblivion he'd been looking for? I'm not sure what to make of it.