What Maria Schneider went through while making Last Tango in Paris (1972) becomes a revealing illustration of the need for preventing movie sets from becoming a boys club in the worst sense.

Based on a book written by her cousin, it is a portrait of Schneider’s relationship with her parents and how she turned to drugs later in the ’70s, but the film also shows how she learned to be more assertive as an artist.

Fine cast, but the drama doesn’t make much of an impact.

2024-France. 102 min. Color. Directed by Jessica Palud. Screenplay: Jessica Palud, Laurette Polmanss. Book: Vanessa Schneider (”My Cousin Maria Schneider”). Cast: Anamaria Vartolomei (Maria Schneider), Matt Dillon (Marlon Brando), Giuseppe Maggio (Bernardo Bertolucci), Céleste Brunnquell, Yvan Attal, Marie Gillain.

Trivia: Original title: Maria.