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Being Maria

2024 [FRENCH]

Biography / Drama / History

2
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 60% · 35 reviews
IMDb Rating 6.1/10 10 768 768

biography based on true story sexploitation docudrama actress filmmaker

Director

Jessica Palud Photo
Jessica Palud

Top cast

Matt Dillon Photo
Matt Dillon as Marlon Brando
Anamaria Vartolomei Photo
Anamaria Vartolomei as Maria Schneider
Yvan Attal Photo
Yvan Attal as Daniel Gélin
Hugo Becker Photo
Hugo Becker as Marc le réalisateur
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
952.29 MB
1280*690
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 43 min
Seeds 18
1.91 GB
1920*1036
French 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 43 min
Seeds 30

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by dromasca 6 / 10

another tango

I looked for (and managed to) see , at the first opportunity 'Being Maria', the film that Jessica Palud directed and co-wrote about the biography of Maria Schneider and how her role in 'Last Tango in Paris' influenced her life and career. I knew that the film was based on the book by Vanessa Schneider - Maria's cousin - and that therefore I could expect not only a rigorously documented script but also a close and empathetic perspective on the actress. I was curious to see how the changes in attitudes related to nudity, sex and the roles of women on screen that took place between 1970 and our post-me-too days are reflected. Finally, I was curious to see how Anamaria Vartolomei, a beautiful and talented actress, copes with this complex and difficult role. On this occasion, I also learned an anecdotal-biographical detail that I did not know: Maria Schneider's mother was originally from Romania, as are Anamaria Vartolomei and her parents.As a biopic, 'Being Maria' is a little different than I expected. The screenwriters and director chose to focus on the filming of Bertolucci's film and the famous rape scene. They managed to build a convincing feminist plea based on the actress's accounts of what happened on set and tried to demonstrate that everything that followed in her life and career was determined by that moment. And yet, in parallel with the failures in her personal life, with the psychological instability and drug addiction, there were artistic comebacks and overcoming of depression and trauma in Maria Schneider's later life and career. She created several remarkable roles and worked with directors such as Michelangelo Antonioni, René Clément and Jacques Rivette, among others. Drawing on her own experience, she became a campaigner for equal rights for actresses and for the necessary support for older actors and filmmakers. Her post-Tango life was marked by trauma and struggles with her problems, but it was not a total disaster.I liked the first part of the film the most. Maria was born from an extramarital affair of her father (a fairly well-known actor) who never assumed paternity. The scenes depicting Maria's relationships with her mother who raised her as a single mother, but also with her father and his 'traditional' family are excellent, also benefiting from the subtle interpretation of the father's role by Yvan Attal. Even though the reason why Bertolucci (played by Italian actor Giuseppe Maggio) chose her for the role in 'Last Tango in Paris' is not clarified, the scenes on the set manage to reconstruct the atmosphere of the filming and convincingly reproduce the context, the circumstances and the reactions of the main characters in the most famous and infamous scene of the film. Matt Dillon does one of the best roles of his career, in my opinion, bringing to life on screen Marlon Brando, a great actor who was also struggling with his own demons and who was actually starting here the slide down the slope of physical and personal decline. Anamaria Vartolomei was not only very good but even exceeded my expectations - she is beautiful, complex, vulnerable, revolted. If she will be blessed with roles on a par with the one in this film, she will become one of the stars of her generation. Unfortunately, in 'Being Maria', as in the heroine's life - as presented in the film -, everything that follows 'Last Tango in Paris' disappoints. The downward slope of Maria's life and career is described in gloomy tones and almost all the situations we see from a moment on are predictable because we have seen them in dozens of other films. Maria Schneider's biography itself, actresses dignity on the screens and the power to say NO deserved a more articulate plea from an artistic point of view. The film is, however, worth watching and debating.
Reviewed by stevelivesey-37183 6 / 10

Excellent movie documenting the life of a discarded actress

Chewed up and spat out by the horrific practices of the past.A very interesting movie about Maria Schneider and the aftermath of her mistreatment at the hands of Marlon Brando and Bernardo Bertolucci during the filming of Last Tango In Paris.The lead actress is excellent as the titular character but like all biographical films it ends up being a whistle stop tour of her live. Informative though it is.The movie is well made and captures the oeuvre of the day.The rest of the cast is fine and Schneider's downfall is played with respect and honesty.The movie does miss out a couple of points in her life. Namely her promiscuity as a budding actress is glossed over to make the assault caught on camera all the more shocking. Also her later life consisted of campaigning to get actors more protection from devious directors and producers that prey upon the young and vulnerable.
Reviewed by josepedrocarlos 1 / 10

WOW

If this was even more of a comedy it could possibly have been the funnest film ever made. However it fails because its filmmaker is a talentless and twisted women who was unfortunately not laughing during production. Amazing this ridiculous film got made. See Last Tango in Paris as it is truly a masterpiece. Not as good a The Brown Bunny but close. If this was even more of a comedy it could possibly have been the funnest film ever made. However it fails because its filmmaker is a talentless and twisted women who was unfortunately not laughing during production. Amazing this ridiculous film got made. See Last Tango in Paris as it is truly a masterpiece. Not as good a The Brown Bunny but close.
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