One way of understanding [Last Tango in Paris] is to see it in the context of Bertolucci's earlier works. The central conflicts in Last Tango bear close similarities with those in The Conformist (1970), The Spider's Stratagem (1969), and Before the Revolution (1964). In all these films, one of the central characters is a young person trying to escape from his social class and family background, but who inevitably lives out the values from his past. Unconventionality is always associated with left-wing politics. (p. 186)

In Revolution, Conformist and Last Tango, each of these characters chooses between a conventional marriage and a dangerous love affair associated with childhood. In rejecting the romantic lover (who is neurotic or deviant by society's norms), and entering the marriage, each destroys the potential for growth and, as if to insure that the decision is final, each destroys the loved one. (pp. 186-87)

In all the films...