Film Review: BEING MARIA (2024): Jessica Palud’s Film Paints a Powerful Picture of the Intense Themes it Chooses to Explore
Being Maria Review
Being Maria (2024) Film Review, a movie directed by Jessica Palud, written by Vanessa Schneider, Laurette Polmanss and Jessica Palud and starring Anamaria Vartolomei, Matt Dillon, Giuseppe Maggio, Yvan Attal, Marie Gillain, Anne Suarez, Stanislas Merhar, Ferederic Moulin, Patrice Tepasso and Celeste Brunnquell.
Being Maria is a bold new film which examines a young woman’s difficulties after being involved in an intense sexual experience she was unprepared for while filming the movie, Last Tango in Paris, which was released in the early 1970’s. That woman was actress Maria Schneider and she is played with emotional fury by the terrific Anamaria Vartolomei who captures the essence of a woman in way over her head as she set out to try her hand at a career she simply had no idea was more complex than she could have ever imagined- at first. By film’s end, Schneider understands the unfortunate nature of being an actress in such a provocative film during the time period a lot more, and comes away with heartbreaking revelations that are quite wrenching in their excesses.
Directed with probing dedication by Jessica Palud, Being Maria is an intriguing movie that never feels like it follows any particular formula. Instead, it seems like it’s shooting to tell the truth much like Maria Schneider, herself, tried to do after the experience of filming Last Tango in Paris.
This is a movie for our times because it opens up the viewer to the fact that the cinematic experience was once put on a pedestal and it seemed like filmmakers and performers behind big films could not be touched if they did something wrong. We know that, today, that is no longer the case. The director of Last Tango in Paris was Bernardo Bertolucci. He is played quite well in Being Maria by Giuseppe Maggio. Though the filmmaker was a genius in several respects, he wasn’t without major hubris that manifested itself through the movie he created in the 1970’s. It can also be said that Marlon Brando, Schneider’s co-star in Last Tango in Paris, was a bit full of himself, too, and even though it felt he connected with Schneider in some ways, he never truly understood what she needed at the time of the creation of the picture.
Matt Dillon plays Brando here and it’s an amazing attempt at creating a legendary enigma. Dillon gets to look strikingly like Brando if you haven’t seen the actor recently and the early scenes between Brando and Schneider are compelling to watch. Schneider tells her family good things about Brando initially and she puts her trust in him and the crew making the movie. That trust didn’t last for long. There is a scene where Brando and Schneider act like animals and crawl around for the film that is going to be one of the most talked about parts of the film.
This picture plays the filming of the controversial sex scene quite vividly. There is some disturbing imagery that mostly consists of close-up shots of Vartolomei’s face as Brando, in character, improvised the scene in a frightening way. Those who know the project that was being filmed know the sequence well (butter is involved) but watching it being filmed is a harrowing experience for the audience. Dillon’s characterization changes here and the actor is more than capable of making the viewer recognize the distinct problem with Brando’s attitude and behavior. It is Vartolomei, however, that stuns more with her vivid performance in the presentation of the horrific events that occurred.
Schneider suffered tremendously in terms of being able to cope with situations regarding the disturbing scenario of filming on the set of Last Tango in Paris. She turned to drugs and became deeply depressed. This movie is excellent at showing the descent of the character that the actress, Vartolomei, immerses herself in here. Schneider yearns to tell the truth to set herself free but that is easier said than done. Vartolomei is disciplined in this role and stays in character throughout, making it one of her most efficient performances to date.
Being Maria is not an easy film to watch as you may have guessed. Watching it in today’s social and political climate makes it all the more powerful. Over 50 years ago, the idea that this kind of behavior on a film set could have been repeated on other productions is a disturbing thought. Vartolomei and Dillon are masters of the acting game and create characters that have complexity. Of course, this is Vartolomei’s movie from the outset and she undergoes a tremendous character transformation that will move the viewer deeply.
It is clear that Being Maria is setting out to examine the career of Schneider and the expectations that Schneider had versus the reality she discovered when getting involved in the 1970’s film as a young woman. Though the new film has two minor flaws, one being that it’s too short at just over 100 minutes and two being its underwhelming ending, perhaps the latter situation has more to do with the fact that if only Schneider could have erased the experience she underwent, things would have been much different in her life, for the better. Those things we let happen to ourselves can change our lives forever and nobody can take our hand and make it better if they weren’t actually there. Vartolomei’s performance is the overwhelming reason to see Being Maria which is an effective movie.
Rating: 7/10
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