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.
Isn’t a non-consensual rape scene just rape?
At a minimum it’s sexual assualt, there was no penetration, which is usually how laws define rape, which creates a lot of problems itself, but that all aside, I agree it’s rape, they didn’t tell her because they thought it would make the scene more realistic, which is pretty insane…
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.
I haven’t seen this movie, so I can’t speak to the content of the particular scene, but based on this article, it wouldn’t rise to the level of actual rape.
Not to be contrarian, but that would literally be a strong case for sexual assualt or if for some reason a local law had some clear cut definition that is designed hard to be met.
SA (sexual assault) per the US Dept of Justice :https://www.justice.gov/ovw/sexual-assault
What Is Sexual Assault?
The term “sexual assault” means any nonconsensual sexual act proscribed by Federal, tribal, or State law, including when the victim lacks capacity to consent.
Seems pretty straightforward to me; unwanted humping or simulated sex is still SA.
N.B. I have neither watched the movie nor looked into where the SA happened so I am just using what is available to us laymen going by US Law
Heck you can get battery charges just for unwanted non sexual touching, so yeah you can’t just SA someone and expect them to be like “oh cool bud haha so funny, no homo…”
It happened in 1972 in Paris.
Time doesn’t make atrocities better
I saw the film once and it is not an easy film and the scene in question is very dark but it belongs in the film, considering the overall theme of the story.
