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Written by Gregg Shapiro
Jun 30, 2011
Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider in “Last Tango In Paris.” – Photo: Courtesy
‘Last Tango in Paris’
With its Francis Bacon opening-credits artwork and its Gato Barbieri score, not to mention riveting performances by Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider, Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Last Tango In Paris” stands the test of time. Nearly 40 years since its release, the uncut version, now available on Blu-ray from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, may seem tamer today but it still has the power to shock.
Paul (Brando) is a middle-aged American whose wife committed suicide in the hotel owned by her family. Jeanne (Schneider) is a very young Parisian woman who meets Paul in an abandoned apartment. He’s been wandering the streets, mourning in his fashion. Jeanne is looking for a place to rent with her filmmaker boyfriend Tom (Jeanne-Pierre Leaud). In the apartment, Jeanne’s busy opening windows, while Paul’s avoiding the light like a vampire. After exchanging a few words, excluding their names (at his request), they have sex.
And so it begins. They meet regularly for a variety of sexual encounters, some kinkier than others (see the ones involving butter and fingernail clippers). Despite their best efforts, they begin to have feelings for each other. But that only complicates things, as Jeanne is engaged to Tom, who spends his time in Paris making a movie about Jeanne’s life.
Not surprisingly, things begin to get ugly between them. As the title implies, this is something of a last dance (at least for one of them).
Brutal and passionate, Bertolucci (whose most recent film, “The Dreamers,” involved bisexuality) helped define the cinema of the 1970s with this film. He influenced many young filmmakers.
‘Never Let Me Go’
Equally shocking, but on a more subtle level, is Mark Romanek’s film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro novel “Never Let Me Go” Beginning in 1978, we meet Kathy (Izzy Meikle-Small), Tommy (Charlie Rowe) and Ruth (Ella Purnell), three “students” at Hailsham, who are under the strict supervision of headmistress Miss Emily (Charlotte Rampling).
The trio and their classmates, whose every move is monitored closely by doctors and the staff at Hailsham, have been bred to be organ donors. That’s right. Once they “graduate” at 18 from Hailsham, they are relocated to various accommodations across England, where their organs will be harvested, sometimes up to four times, before they reach “completion” of their duties – and their lives.
In the early years, bonds are made. Kathy and Tommy become good friends, although it’s clear that there might be something more below the surface. But the antagonistic Ruth doesn’t waste any time in getting her claws into Tommy. By the time they are sent to live at The Cottages in 1985, Ruth (Keira Knightley), who can’t be a heart donor because she hasn’t got one, and the socially awkward Tommy (Andrew Garfield) are officially an item. Kathy (Carey Mulligan) is relegated to third wheel and decides to become a “carer” for donors (which defers her own donor role for a few years). But soon their closely interwoven lives begin to unravel with velocity.
By 1994, Kathy is still working with donors. But when she finds out that Ruth is nearing completion after only two organ donations, she arranges a reunion. Ruth, who is “a bit broken,” is surprised, albeit pleased to see her. Ruth suggests that she, Kathy and Tony take a final trip together, which provides her with an opportunity to ask the two of them for forgiveness for keeping them apart.
In an effort to keep the momentum of their reunion going after the death of Ruth, Kathy and Tommy concoct a plan to ask for a permanent deferral. Ominous and haunting, “Never Let Me Go” has a way of taking hold of a viewer and, well, not letting go. Blu-ray special features include the featurette “The Secrets of Never Let Me Go,” Romanek’s on-set photography and more.
