A screening of Last Tango in Paris, which features a rape scene filmed without the consent of actress Maria Schneider, has been canceled at the renowned Cinémathèque française in Paris. The decision came after a wave of criticism from women's rights groups, the cinema announced.
The Cinémathèque, a film archive and cinema partly funded by the French state, announced the decision to cancel the 15 December screening of Last Tango in Paris in order "to calm tensions and in light of potential security risks".
"We are a cinema, not a fortress. We cannot take risks with the safety of our staff and audience," said Cinémathèque director Frédéric Bonnaud.
"Violent individuals were beginning to make threats and holding this screening and debate posed an entirely disproportionate risk. So, we had to let it go," he added.
Last Tango in Paris, directed by Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci in 1972, was scheduled to be shown Sunday evening as part of a retrospective of work by American actor Marlon Brando.
Actress Judith Godrèche, a prominent figure in France's #MeToo movement, led criticism of the decision to screen the film without providing context to viewers, which she said disrespected the memory of Maria Schneider, who died in 2011.
"It's time to wake up, dear Cinémathèque, and restore humanity to 19-year-old actresses by behaving humanely," she wrote on Instagram.
French actress dominates Césars with calls for reckoning on sexual violence
The film delves into the complex relationship between a widowed American man in Paris and a much younger woman, culminating in a disturbing, non-consensual sodomy scene.
While the sex was simulated, it later emerged that Schneider had been kept in the dark about what was to happen by Brando and Bertolucci, who were both later nominated for Oscars.
Public discussion
Schneider later revealed she was in tears during the filming, and Brando did not console her afterwards.
Schneider’s allegations, first made in the 1970s, were largely dismissed at the time, a topic explored in the recent documentary "Maria."
The 50/50 collective, a group advocating for gender parity in cinema, called on the Cinémathèque to provide a "thoughtful and respectful" space for Schneider’s testimony alongside the screening.
The Cinémathèque promised last week to hold a "discussion with the audience" to address the issues raised by the film.
Bonnaud pointed out that the film had been screened "without incident" at the Cinémathèque in 2017 - before the #MeToo era brought violence against women to the fore.
(with AFP)
