Screening of Last Tango in Paris featuring rape scene shot without actress's consent has to be abandoned after organisers receive 'violent threats'
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A screening of Last Tango in Paris, which features a rape scene filmed without the consent of actress Maria Schneider, has been cancelled at a cinema in the French capital following outcry from women's rights groups. The Cinémathèque Francaise, a film archive and movie theatre partly funded by the state, announced the decision to cancel the Sunday screening in order 'to calm tensions and in light of potential security risks'.
![[Actress Judith Godreche, a prominent figure in France's #MeToo movement, posted a picture on Instagram showing a sign placed over the road name where The Cinematheque is based, renaming it after Schneider in an act of protest]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/16/12/93193531-14197409-image-m-5_1734353657236.jpg)
'We are a cinema, not a fortress. We cannot take risks with the safety of our staff and audience,' Cinémathèque director Frederic Bonnaud told AFP on Sunday. '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.
![[Following the distressing and disturbing rape scene, Schneider said she felt she had immediately become a sex symbol, admitting it 'turned me a little crazy']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/16/12/85243535-14197409-Following_the_distressing_and_disturbing_rape_scene_Schneider_sa-a-1_1734353549751.jpg)
Campaigners have hit back at the claims, saying their planned protests did not amount to security threats and would have been peaceful. '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 Maria Schneider receiveed decoration at the Ministry of Culture on July 1, 2010 in Paris]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/05/23/16/85243589-13451273-image-a-31_1716478936238.jpg)
Actress Judith Godreche, 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 Schneider, who died in 2011. She said that rather than honouring the memory of Brando, Schneider's career and life should be remembered.
