Marlon Brando, right, and Maria Schneider in Last Tango In Paris.
Marlon Brando, right, and Maria Schneider in Last Tango In Paris.
The director of the controversial film Last Tango in Paris has called the outcry about a rape scene in his movie "false".
Over the weekend, a 2013 video resurfaced where Italian director Bernando Bertolucci revealed that the film's actress Maria Schneider wasn't made aware about the infamous rape scene from the 1972 film.
Hollywood and the world slammed the director and actor Marlon Brando for the scene.
Bertolucci has retaliated, releasing a statement in his defence.
"I would like, for the last time, to clear up a ridiculous misunderstanding that continues to generate press reports about Last Tango in Paris around the world," the director said in the statement, released in Italian and reported by Variety.
"Several years ago at the Cinemathèque Francaise someone asked me for details on the famous 'butter scene'. I specified, but perhaps I was not clear, that I decided with Marlon Brando not to inform Maria that we would have used butter. We wanted her spontaneous reaction to that improper use [of the butter]. That is where the misunderstanding lies."
Much of the outrage was directed at the fact Schneider did not know there would be a rape scene, but Bertolucci said that wasn't the case.
"Somebody thought, and thinks, that Maria had not been informed about the violence on her. That is false! Maria knew everything because she had read the script, where it was all described. The only novelty was the idea of the butter. And that, as I learned many years later, offended Maria. Not the violence that she is subjected to in the scene, which was written in the screenplay."
Schneider died in 2011, but spoke to the Daily Mail in 2007 about the scene, which paints a different take on the scene.
"I felt humiliated and, to be honest, I felt a little raped, both by Marlon and by Bertolucci. After the scene, Marlon didn't console me or apologise. Thankfully, there was just one take."
Stars, including Chris Evans and Jessica Chastain, expressed their disgust as Bertolucci and the alleged scene over the weekend.
People have called for Bertolucci to be stripped of his Academy Awards he won for writing and directing The Last Emperor.
The 76-year-old director has not made any films for four years. His last was Me and You in 2012.
Where to go for help or more information:
• Women's Refuge: Free national crisisline operates 24/7 - 0800 REFUGE or 0800 733 843 www.womensrefuge.org.nz • ShineFree national helpline 9am- 11pm every day - 0508 744 633 www.2shine.org.nz • It's Not Ok: Information line 0800 456 450 www.areyouok.org.nz • Shakti: Providing specialist cultural services for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and their children. Crisisline 24/7 0800 742 584 • Ministry of Justice: www.justice.govt.nz/family-justice/domestic-violence • National Network of Stopping Violence: www.nnsvs.org.nz • White Ribbon: Aiming to eliminate men's violence towards women, focusing this year on sexual violence and the issue of consent. www.whiteribbon.org.nz
