We've kind of segued from the original topic, but…yes, my friend (the screenwriter, who incidentally was fine with some dialogue improvisation, which the actors did so well I couldn't tell when they were going off-script) and that director were best friends since they were kids and the filming experience almost ended…

I don't disagree. The best film he's done was from a set script (written by my friend) and it's the only one that's gotten any kind of attention, at film festivals, etc. His no-script stuff is full of swirly arty camerawork and awkward pauses with embarrassed-looking actors coughing and laughing inappropriately as…

A friend-of-a-friend does low-budget indie movies, and he works this way. Forget the 'script', improvise everything, toss in unexpected stuff and it's all more 'real'. My thing is, then who's talking, who's reacting—the actor or the character? I think the end result might be less 'real' than if the actors can rehearse…

I'm sure it horribly affected Schneider, and that she didn't feel in a position to say 'no', but what would have made it 'consensual'? Telling her about it a week before, two weeks—what? Don't say having it in the script when she signed—improvisation and spontaneity were central to Bertolucci's method. Lots of…