Once Upon a Time.Last Tango in ParisCo-directors July and Nuytten offer a socio-political and historical context for Bertolucci's landmark erotic drama Last Tango in Paris, released in 1972. Revealing interviews trace the film's development from the critical process of casting Brando and Schneider, through to the film's premiere and its wider popular and critical reception.
Serge July interviews the film's director, lead actress Maria Schneider (who died in Paris last February), cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, feminist author Germaine Greer and others who share insights into their involvement in or reaction to Bertolucci's confronting and explicit film.
Screens with Agony (Agonia) (28 mins, France, 1969, Italian with English subtitles), Bertolucci's contribution to the omnibus film, Love and Anger (Amore e rabbia) that also included episodes directed by Pasolini, Godard and Marco Bellocchio.
The film is an intriguing collaboration with theatre director Julian Beck and his avant-garde Living Theatre. A dying man's memories and regrets are externalised in the form of a theatrical happening enacted by Beck's troupe of actors.
