Maria Schneider is the subject of a biopic titled “Maria” this Wednesday, which looks back on her meteoric rise and descent into hell after the horrific filming of “Last Tango in Paris.”
It’s the story of a French actress promised a great career, which a film shoot will ruin. The story of Maria Schneider is infamous, but never before has it been brought to light through the seventh art. The error was caught this Wednesday, June 19 with Maria, biopic presented at the Cannes Film Festival by Jessica Palud which recounts the actress’s rise and descent into hell. played by Anamaria Vartolomei (The event and soon The count of Monte Cristo). The film is inspired by the book Your name was Maria Schneiderwritten by his cousin Vanessa Schneider in 2018.
Maria Schneider was only 19 years old when director Bernardo Bertolucci asked her to play Jeanne, the main female character in his next film, Last Tango in Paris. She responds to Marlon Brando, 48 years old. The filming is particularly grueling, mainly the infamous “butter scene”. In this scene, Marlon Brando’s character forcibly holds Maria Schneider’s character to the ground, before using butter as lubricant before sodomy raping her.
If no sexual act really took place on the set and Brando simulated the “act”, the recording of this scene is extremely violent: it was filmed without the consent of the actress, who did not was warned neither by the main actor nor by the director, before playing this moment which was not written in the script. “Even if what Marlon did [Brando] wasn’t real, I was crying real tears. I felt humiliated, and a little violated to be honest, by both Marlon and Bertolucci,” Maria Schneider told the Daily Mail in 2007. In 2013, Bernardo Bertolucci confirmed that he had not warned the actress before filming so that his anger is more authentic on screen.
Maria Schneider never forgave
Last Tango in Paris caused a scandal when it was released in 1972 due to its numerous sexual scenes. France prohibits it for under-18s, and the film is banned from distribution in Italy. Following the release of Last Tango in ParisMaria Schneider continues to play more occasionally (Profession: reporter, The evasion, Merry-Go-Round…), but suffers from excessive drug use, overdose and depression. She says she “lost seven years of [sa] life between cocaine, heroin and self-loathing and rejected roles directly inspired by that of Jeanne”. She died on February 3, 2011 at the age of 58 from cancer. The film Maria, which looks back on the history and life of the actress, was released in cinemas on June 19, 2024 in France.
Synopsis – Maria is no longer a child and not yet an adult when she ignites the film of a sulphurous film that has become cult: Last Tango in Paris. She quickly rose to fame and became an iconic actress without being prepared for either fame or scandal…