
Italian director clarifies ‘Last Tango’ butter rape scene
ROME — Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci is clarifying details about the infamous butter rape scene in the “Last Tango in Paris.”
Bertolucci says the only novelty sprung on actress Maria Schneider was the butter — not the simulated rape, which he said was written into the script.
“Some people thought, and think, that Maria wasn’t informed about the rape,” said a Bertolucci statement carried by the ANSA news agency Monday.
“False! Maria knew everything because she had read it in the script, where it was described,” he said. “The only novelty was the idea of the butter.”