There are pushbaks that I agree with, such as Alec Baldiwn, Cate Blanchett, Javier Bardem taking a stand against the allegations spewed towards Woody Allen, and then there's what director Bernardo Bertolucci said at a recent screening of his classic ‘Last Tango,In Paris’.
The 77 year old director told a crowd how he disagreed with director Ridley Scott's handling of the Kevin Spacey’s role in “All the Money in the World.” Deadline translated a recent il Giornale article which has Bertolucci quoted as saying:
“When I learned that Ridley Scott had agreed to eliminate the scenes of ‘All the Money in the World’ in which Kevin Spacey was playing, I sent a message to editor Peter Scalia to tell Scott that he should be ashamed.”
Bertolucci even added that he'd be more than happy to work with Spacey in the near future. I guess Spacey has a home if he ever wants to return to acting, but selling the film would be a different story. Spacey is as toxic as any person in the industry, safe for Harvey Weinstein, and a career comeback would be far-fetched but not unseen either. Over the years, many shunned and blacklisted actors have managed to make a career off of straight-to-DVD fare.
Spacey had filmed the role of John Paul Getty in Scott's movie, but allegations of sexual wrongdoing against the actor forced Scott to go into historic, last-minute reshoots and replace Spacey with actor Christopher Plummer. Plummer would receive an Oscar nomination for his work.
Bertolucci is no stranger to sexual controversy. 'Last Tango" lead actress Maria Schneider accused the director and actor Marlon Brando of raping her on the set of the sexually explicit 1973 film.The actress stated that both men never told her about the infamous butter scene, which wasn’t in the script and that she was forced to perform it on the spot.
Schneider, who died in 2011, spoke openly about her distrust of Bertolucci and their falling out because of the scene:
“I felt humiliated and to be honest, I felt a little raped, both by Marlon and by Bertolucci,” she said. “After the scene, Marlon didn't console me or apologize. Thankfully, there was just one take.”
Bertolucci is a legendary director whose made delivered such masterpieces as "The Conformist," "The Dreamers," and won the Best picture and Director Oscars for 1987's "The Last Emperor."
Bertolucci is a legendary director whose made delivered such masterpieces as "The Conformist," "The Dreamers," and won the Best picture and Director Oscars for 1987's "The Last Emperor."