Being Maria

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Being Maria

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1h 42m

Biography

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62%

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29 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

Maria Schneider (Anamaria Vartolomei) is a promising, young French actress. When she gets the lead in a feature film directed by an acclaimed Italian filmmaker and starring one of America's most beloved actors, it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. Her collaborators, director Bernardo Bertolucci and star Marlon Brando (Matt Dillon) seem to be bringing out the best in Maria, sharing a warm rapport and mentorship with the 19-year old girl. Until one day, when the two men conspire to shoot a crucial sex scene as a harrowing assault without letting Maria in on the plan. The film goes on to be lauded as a fearless artistic breakthrough, but for Maria, it’s the beginning of a living hell. Based on the behind-the-scenes true story of the making of Last Tango in Paris, Jessica Palud's sensitive biopic centers Maria's story for the first time.

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Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

there’s enough of an emotional intelligence inside the bumpier elements of “Being Maria” that the movie effectively acknowledges that it’s only one part of a complicated life story.

Mar 31, 2025

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Beatrice Loayza

New York Times

If the meandering nature of the film makes the psychic fallout seem tonally scattered, it nevertheless conveys the sense that she’s sleepwalking through life — and always fighting to snap out of it.

Mar 25, 2025

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Bob Mondello

NPR

Palud, who previously worked with Bertolucci, does her most evocative work in the on-set sequences, with a coddled Brando (a terrific Matt Dillon) and an increasingly vulnerable Schneider.

Mar 22, 2025

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Kent Hill

Film Threat

Being Maria stands strong because of a soulful and textured performance from Vartolomei, who though almost destroyed by her life’s entanglements, bravely and boldly tangoed on.

Rated: 6.5/10

Apr 11, 2025

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Armond White

National Review

Although Being Maria is dedicated to Schneider’s memory, it also consumes her in that purge.

Apr 9, 2025

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Dhruv Goyal

In Review Online

Jessica Palud's Being Maria — positioned as a feminist response to Bernardo Bertolucci's toxically male Last Tango in Paris, released in 1972 — is an undisputed triumph.

Apr 3, 2025

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Vincent G

If this was even more of a comedy it could possibly have been the funnest film ever made. However it fails because its filmmaker is a talentless and twisted women who was unfortunately not laughing during production. Amazing this ridiculous film got made. See Last Tango in Paris as it is truly a masterpiece. Not as good a The Brown Bunny but close.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

04/04/25

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Jessica Palud

Director

Anamaria Vartolomei

Maria Schneider

Céleste Brunnquell

Noor

Giuseppe Maggio

Bernardo Bertolucci

Yvan Attal

Daniel Gélin

Marie Gillain

Marie-Christine

Being Maria: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Maria Schneider (Anamaria Vartolomei) is a promising, young French actress. When she gets the lead in a feature film directed by an acclaimed Italian filmmaker and starring one of America's most beloved actors, it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. Her collaborators, director Bernardo Bertolucci and star Marlon Brando (Matt Dillon) seem to be bringing out the best in Maria, sharing a warm rapport and mentorship with the 19-year old girl. Until one day, when the two men conspire to shoot a crucial sex scene as a harrowing assault without letting Maria in on the plan. The film goes on to be lauded as a fearless artistic breakthrough, but for Maria, it’s the beginning of a living hell. Based on the behind-the-scenes true story of the making of Last Tango in Paris, Jessica Palud's sensitive biopic centers Maria's story for the first time.

Director: Jessica Palud
Producer: Marielle Duigou
Screenwriter: Jessica Palud, Laurette Polmanss, Vanessa Schneider
Distributor: Kino Lorber
Production Co: Les Films de Mina
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Original Language: French
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 21, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 27, 2025
Box Office (Gross USA): $16.6K
Runtime: 1h 42m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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