But I have to say, the 1970s were - and I grew up then - were an era of sex as liberation. MARTIN: So he did suffer some consequences, at least, in the short term. And in fact, Bertolucci's civil rights were taken away for five years in the '70s in Italy when the Italian authorities found out about this. And today in the #MeToo movement, this would be reported and it should not happen. And I don't think that it's right for the director or actor to conspire against an actress or for the actress and the director to conspire against the male actor. RICKEY: We have heard of many accusations, and I think it probably happens all the time that directors decide a certain thing that's not in the script would be representative of the characters in the moment. But do you - do we, collectively, know about any other incidents of directors putting actors at risk this way? He thought this was about his art, which is horrific to think about, especially in the #MeToo era that we live in now. MARTIN: So he - I mean, Bertolucci argued that he wanted this to be real. And Brando and Bertolucci, at breakfast one morning during the production, said, why don't we do this scene, and that's how the male character would have felt then?
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Knowing what we know now, it's almost impossible to watch without just flipping out and being angry. It's a very - it's a very hard scene to watch. Some people argue that it was actually real, that Bertolucci wanted real sex. She did say that the scene, the sodomy scene, was simulated. RICKEY: In 2007, she was very frank and candid about it. So she genuinely felt violated and traumatized in the moment. And I say ends up because it only surfaced a few years ago that Bertolucci and Brando had planned this violent scene without telling the actress, Schneider. It's in which the male lead, played by Marlon Brando, ends up raping the female lead, played by Maria Schneider. MARTIN: So I mentioned "Last Tango In Paris" is infamous because of this particular scene.
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Thanks so much for being with us this morning.ĬARRIE RICKEY: Good morning, Rachel. We're joined now by film critic Carrie Rickey to talk more about this. And we want to warn listeners that the conversation you're about to hear over the next few minutes centers around an incidence of sexual assault. Perhaps most famous for his Oscar-winning blockbuster, "The Last Emperor," he is likely most infamous for an earlier film, "Last Tango In Paris," and what happened to one of its stars, Maria Schneider. He died of cancer yesterday at the age of 77. Italian film director Bernardo Bertolucci is being remembered this week as a pioneer in his industry.