Download (12MB) - University of Salford Institutional Repository

film's earlier discourses regarding the role of the individual within society, and it ultimately
distances viewers emotionally and intellectually from the protagonists' destiny.
The construction of a mood of anxious tension
To portray Paul's powerful ego, Bertolucci cast Marion Brando, who was an icon of
subversive behaviour on and off screen, and whose persona would therefore lend a degree of
authenticity to Paul's criticisms of society. Furthermore, Brando's presence would maximize
the impact on viewers, as their fascination for him as a film legend would guarantee an
interest in his character almost by default. In this respect, some critics have recognized that
Bertolucci used details of Brando's real life and cinematic biography, "a boxer, an actor, a
revolutionary in South America, a reporter in Japan, he hangs about in Tahiti, learns French
then comes to Paris...', as a basis for Paul's troubled past (Socci, 1995: 50-51). To convey the
character's aggression, Brando alternates silences with outbursts of rage; he is repeatedly
filmed in the dark, leaning against a wall while either sitting on the floor or standing in the
corner of a room (a composition reminiscent of those of Giacobbe in Partner), suddenly
emerging from these positions for confrontations with his interlocutor who has to retreat or
succumb. Paul's intolerance of social hypocrisy makes him aggressive towards all the
characters with whom he interacts; at the hotel, after turning off the power, Paul drags his
mother-in-law into the semi-darkness of the hallway, menacingly whispering that he knows
she is afraid of dying. The anxiety generated by this sequence, heightened by the shouting of
the hotel guests, is dissipated as Paul denounces the woman as an 'old whore' who still
enjoys 'the job' now and then. In this regard, certain elements of the scene, such as the
darkness, the protagonist's haranguing of a semi-imaginary diegetic audience, and the
manhandling of a victim, recall the sequence in The Conformist in which Marcello Clerici
denounces his Fascist friend Italo to the people celebrating the end of Fascism.
152