Bernardo Bertolucci is a filmmaker that is no stranger to controversy. Before the Weinstein allegations, and the current #MeToo movement, Bertolucci became the subject of much criticism because of an infamous scene in his film “Last Tango in Paris.” But now it seems like Bertolucci has inserted himself into the conversation yet again, with his take on the Kevin Spacey situation.
In a recent screening of ‘Last Tango,’ the director told the crowd that he was upset over the way that director Ridley Scott handled Kevin Spacey’s role in “All the Money in the World.” According to il Giornale (via Deadline), Bertolucci said, “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.”
For those that don’t know, Kevin Spacey had filmed the role of John Paul Getty in the Scott film, but after allegations came out about the actor, Scott decided to go into last-minute reshoots and replace all the Spacey scenes with actor Christopher Plummer. “All the Money in the World” would go on to get critical acclaim, with Plummer receiving an Oscar nomination for his work.
As mentioned above, Bertolucci has found himself at the center of sexual controversy before. Years ago, actress Maria Schneider came out with allegations that Bertolucci and actor Marlon Brando had “raped” her on the set of ‘Last Tango.’ The actress said that the director, along with Brando, never told her about the infamous butter scene, which wasn’t in the script. And after she was forced to take part in the scene, she had felt that both Brando and Bertolucci had violated her.
According to reports, Bertolucci went a step further with his defense of Spacey, saying that in the future, the director would be happy to work with the disgraced actor.