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.

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.

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.

For all the sturm und drang, betrayal and abuse, the film seems bloodless and slow, but left a strong impression of diastase for the perps and empathy for those victimised in their naivete.