LAST TANGO IN PARIS (1972)

“There’s nothing left for me, just memories… and the apartment.”

Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris is as haunting as it is infamous. Set almost entirely within the crumbling walls of a dim Parisian apartment, the film captures the raw connection between two strangers—Paul (Marlon Brando), a grieving widower, and Jeanne (Maria Schneider), a young woman grasping for her own identity. Brando delivers an astonishing performance, almost entirely improvisational, an unfiltered portrayal of rage and grief. Schneider’s presence adds an unsettling innocence to the chaos of their affair.

File Under: Erotic Melancholia | Arthouse | Jazz

The film’s jazz-heavy score by Gato Barbieri sets the tone: smoky, mournful, and tense, perfectly matched to Bertolucci’s unflinching vision of intimacy at its most dangerous. It’s a film about loneliness and release, desire and decay—its themes layered in shadows, whispers, and muted color palettes.

Last Tango  has continued to stir controversy. Its notorious “butter scene” and filming revelations from Schneider point toward exploitation. These conversations are now inseparable from the film’s legacy, complicating its impact while demanding a more critical lens, whilst adding a layer of libertine-ian mystique.

For all its controversy, Last Tango in Paris remains a stark meditation on grief, isolation, and the harmful ways we seek connection when searching for meaning. Bertolucci’s Paris feels frozen in time—disjointed, melancholic, and perfectly suited to winter’s darkest moods.

"Last Tango in Paris", Bernardo Bertolucci. 1972, Italy. Running Time: 126 Minutes. English-French. Available for rent on Amazon Prime Video and streaming on Pluto TV.

PAPRIKA (2006)

File Under: Psychedelic Anime, Surrealism, Dream Logic, Sci-Fi Masterpiece.

Satoshi Kon’s 2006 anime feature has been described as an acid trip for good reason; when a machine that allows therapists to enter patients’ dreams is stolen, chaos ensues, and the only one capable of finding the culprit is Dr. Atsuko Chiba. When entering dreams Chida is transformed into an alter ego, Paprika. As she pursues the thief with her partners, she is forced into mind bending and terrifying situations, where the line between dream and reality is irrevocably blurred. This flick has been credited for inspiring Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” and it’s a worthy take if you’re interested in psychological thrillers exploring complex questions about identity and existence. Available for rent on Prime and Apple TV.

"Paprika", Satoshi Kon. 2006, Japan.
Running Time: 90 Minutes. Japanese.
Available for rent on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and YouTube.

DIVA (1981)

File Under: French New Wave Revival, Neon Noir, High Style, Operatic Thriller.

Jean Jacques Beinex delivers a feast for the eyes (and ears) in his first feature length “DIVA”, a genre bending cyberpunk thriller, love story, and testament to the power of music. In “Diva” Beinex explodes conventional narrative structure to pursue a new style of filmmaking that would be coined by French critic Raphael Bassan as “cinema du look”. 

When an opera recording is pirated by an obsessive fan, the forces of the criminal underbelly of Paris are awakened, events are triggered, characters weave through the futuristic industrial wastelands + subways of the city, storylines combine, an epic chase scene ensues, the clash between high and low brow society  forms before our eyes; all moving the visual, thematic and stylistic elements to the fore, further enhanced by a modern remaster of the original 35mm.

"Diva", Jean-Jacques Beineix. 1981, France.
Running Time: 117 Minutes. French.
Available for rent on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.

BACURAU

Brazilian writers / directors Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Filho take on race and class in their 2019 bizarro sci-fi Western flick “Bacurau”. The film bends genres and realities whilst following a small town and eccentric set of characters in the Brazilian outback; the town’s inner quarrels are exploded by an insidious existential threat. For sure, a heavy dose of psychedelic storytelling layered with criticism of Brazilian politics and Western economic imperialism. Available on prime video premium and other platforms if you’re willing to pay a small fee. 🇧🇷

N.APRIS LES DES

French experimental film writer/ director, Alaine Robbe Grillet presents a remix of his own work, “Eden and After”, taking subversion to a whole new level, confronting the viewer with surreal collages of potent carnal imagery. Plot is secondary. Strap on your seat belt for a sensory overload.: “N. Took the Dice”. Full film linked below. ADULTS ONLY.

THROW AWAY YOUR BOOKS, RALLY IN THE STREETS

Shuji Terayama’s avant-garde film critiques American & Japanese materialism through the narrative of a poor young man trying to make himself a life in a capitalist society with a dysfunctional family. The imagery is psychedelic/ surreal, soundtrack is punk singalong, the cinematography experimental, a script chock full of symbolism and social commentary. Teryama in 1971, a master at work.

RED DESERT

“With one startling, painterly composition after another—of abandoned fishing cottages, electrical towers, looming docked ships—Red Desert creates a nearly apocalyptic image of its time, and confirms Antonioni as cinema’s preeminent poet of the modern age.” - The Criterion Collection

THE ADDICTION

Shot in black and white in mid 90’s NYC, starring Lili Taylor and Christopher Walken, scored with golden age hip hop tracks, Abel Ferrara’s art house film exploits vampire tropes to explore religious themes of damnation, redemption and the collapse of a moral order. Backdrop of AIDS and addicts… Gritty, philosophical, visceral, adult horror business- Abel and Nicholas St. John doing their thing on the fringes. Available on YouTube and Amazon premium.

Jean Luc Godard

This week’s art post is selected stills from film’s by the great Jean Luc Godard who passed this year at age 91. It is an understatement to say Godard was a giant, he profoundly impacted cinema and modern thinking several times over. His work was always advancing, changing form and challenging the status quo. He was always morally outrages and always willing to stay on the margins. He understood life’s cruelty and saw art as a tool for resistance. He celebrated the defiance of beauty, the grace of charity, and the aunthenticity of being a moral enemy of the state.

Je vous salue JLG!

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