Two-Time Oscar Winning Filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci, Known For Controversial ‘Last Tango In Paris,’ Passes Away

Iconic Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci, known for iconic films like ‘Last Tango in Paris’ and ‘The Last Emperor’, breathed his last after a battle with cancer. He was aged 77. The director passed away at his home in Rome early on 26 November, his publicist confirmed.  

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Bertolucci is a two-time Academy Award winner for ‘The Last Emperor’(1987), bagging the trophies for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. The movie had won all nine Oscars it was nominated for including Best Movie. 

However, the filmmaker was most popular for the controversial ‘Last Tango in Paris’ (1972) starring Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider. The movie was banned in Italy for almost 15 years over the depiction of a rape scene between the leads. The case got dragged into various courts and the filmmaker and his leads were even sentenced to imprisonment and fined, though the imprisonments were suspended.

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His other films that are also highly respected in the field of filmmaking and looked up to aspiring directors are The Conformist’ (1970) and ‘1900’ that released in 1976. The last movie that he directed was ‘Me and You’ that hit the theatres in 2012. Bernando Bertolucci was honoured with the Palme d'Or Award, equivalent to a Lifetime Achievement Award, at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011.