Maria (2024)

	Directed by: Jessica Palud	INTERNATIONAL TITLE Being Maria COUNTRY France GENRE Biographical drama NORWEGIAN TITLE Jeg er Maria RUNNING TIME 102 minutes
	Produced by: Marielle Duigou
	Written by (based on My Cousin Maria Schneider by Vanessa Schneider): Jessica Palud Laurette Polmanss

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Maria Schneider	Anamaria Vartolomei
Noor	Céleste Brunnquell	½
Bernardo Bertolucci	Giuseppe Maggio
Daniel Gélin	Yvan Attal	-
Marie-Christine Schneider	Marie Gillain
Michel Schneider	Jonathan Couzinié	-
Marlon Brando	Matt Dillon

Review

This revisionist account of the life of Maria Schneider and the making of Last Tango in Paris, seen from her perspective, aims to set things straight, but ends up playing into the hyperbole and mythologies. As opposed to the landmark film it scrutinises, Being Maria mostly trods clichés and feminist truisms. Both Marlon Brando and Bernardo Bertolucci, as well as the production of Tango itself, are sadly underexplored. The main demographic for Being Maria will arguably be film buffs, who won’t find much new or revelatory here. The film’s strongest suit is lead actress Anamaria Vartolomei’s natural presence in front of the camera.