Female Film Critics 24/375
The impact of the male gaze on women in film is a subject that’s been documented and debated for decades. But Jessica Palud’s drama Being Maria viscerally reminds us of just how damaging that gaze can be as it tells the true story of Maria Schneider, the young French actress whose career — and life — were derailed by the men who manipulated her while making the controversial classic Last Tango in Paris.
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The biting subtext to writer-director Jessica Palud’s Being Maria is recreating the climate on film sets and within the echo chambers of the film world — press junkets, photo shoots, agent meetings —for a young aspiring actress before the MeToo era. It takes the controversial but much lauded film Last Tango in Paris and recreates the experience from the point of view of Maria Schneider (Anamaria Vartolomei), just 19 and in her first major screen role.
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Being Maria is a revealing truth-based biopic about the life and career of actress Maria Schneider, whose star ascended when she was just 19, after her daring performance opposite Marlon Brando in Bernardo Bertolucci’s highly controversial film, Last Tango in Paris (1972). Director Jessica Palud’s compelling telling of the story shows how Schneider’s risqué role and the fame that came with it impacted young Maria’s future relationships and repertoire. This picture is not one of kudos and glam.
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