"Last Tango in Paris" was a Brando film that took a while to get to. It was also a film that felt like I couldn't give justice to without feeling mentally "ready" and mature to interpret and accept the film the way it might be intended. While the film had its incredible moments, I was ultimately disappointed with the experience.
First and obviously, Brando is phenomenal. Done.
Second, there are moments of pure erotic steam and emotional epicness but these moments don't seem to last as long as necessary and they don't feel incredibly significant to the overall film's theme and arc. It's difficult to pinpoint what the film was really trying to explore and say due to an imbalance in tone from scene to scene. One scene where the two leads talk to each other for a while really hit home but there were too many moments of confusing actions that made it difficult to understand who theses characters actually were.
Technically, I thought the editing was all over the place and the score often beats the audience over the head with one singular emotion without any nuance. Cinematography, for the most part, was mesmerizing but there were some blatant technical errors in sound recording and mixing.
The more I also learn about the director and the behind-the-scenes, the more the film doesn't sit right with me. It takes from an opinion of grand and mysterious eroticism to pathetic and nonsensical selfish filmmaking that did more harm than good. If only the best moments and performances of this film could be applied to a worthwhile script and director, this film could achieve a level of greatness that could never be replicated.
First and obviously, Brando is phenomenal. Done.
Second, there are moments of pure erotic steam and emotional epicness but these moments don't seem to last as long as necessary and they don't feel incredibly significant to the overall film's theme and arc. It's difficult to pinpoint what the film was really trying to explore and say due to an imbalance in tone from scene to scene. One scene where the two leads talk to each other for a while really hit home but there were too many moments of confusing actions that made it difficult to understand who theses characters actually were.
Technically, I thought the editing was all over the place and the score often beats the audience over the head with one singular emotion without any nuance. Cinematography, for the most part, was mesmerizing but there were some blatant technical errors in sound recording and mixing.
The more I also learn about the director and the behind-the-scenes, the more the film doesn't sit right with me. It takes from an opinion of grand and mysterious eroticism to pathetic and nonsensical selfish filmmaking that did more harm than good. If only the best moments and performances of this film could be applied to a worthwhile script and director, this film could achieve a level of greatness that could never be replicated.