Tinto Brass Movies
One of Europe's leading figures in softcore erotic filmmaking, Tinto Brass has earned an international reputation for his blend of artiness and thematic extremity; his over-the-top style has also earned comparisons to American director Russ Meyer, though while Meyer's trademark has always been his obsession with the bustline, Brass is known for his fascination with the derriere. Tinto Brass was born in Venice, Italy, on March 26, 1933. While Brass received a degree in law, instead of opening a practice as an attorney he opted to follow his passion for film and moved to Paris, where he found work at the Cinémathèque Française, one of the world's leading film archives. In the mid-'50s Brass returned to Italy, and got his foot in the door of the film business as an assistant director to Roberto Rossellini on the documentary India. In 1963, Brass graduated to directing with the neorealistic drama In Capo al Mondo. Over the next several years, Brass would try his hand at everything from sci-fi comedies to spaghetti Westerns, but the style and themes for which he would become best known began to surface with his 1969 film Black on White, about an woman tempted into infidelity by a black man during a visit to London, and 1970's L'Urlo, a bizarre satire in which a runaway couple explore their most base emotional and sexual appetites.Brass' lush but unconventional eroticism arrived in full flower in 1976's Salon Kitty, concerning a house of prostitution favored by members of the Nazi SS; the film was an international hit, and Brass was tapped by Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione to direct his multi-million-dollar production of Caligula, based on a screenplay by Gore Vidal. The film became Brass' biggest international success, but it was a hollow victory; Guccione took the project away from Brass after principle photography was completed, and Brass, Vidal, and many members of the cast ultimately disowned the film. While his future projects never quite matched the blood-and-sex extremity of Caligula, his niche as a creator of offbeat softcore sex dramas (often with political or social undertones) was set, as evidenced by such films as Capriccio, Cosi Fan Tutte, and L'Uomo Che Guarda; in 1995 he even made a film, Fermo Posta Tinto Brass, which purported to be adapted from sexual fantasies sent to him by his many fans. ~ Rovi
A husband awakens to his wife's sexual needs after reading her diary and uncovering irrefutable evidence of an affair with a passionate stranger. Marta and Dario have been married for six months. In that time, Marta hasn't had a single orgasm due to the fact that Dario is a selfish lover. One day, while perusing a Mantua art gallery, Marta crosses paths with Leon, a handsome stranger whose carnal curiosity awakens her deepest desires. Encouraged by her best friend Sylva to pursue Leon, Marta is soon living out her fantasies with the tall, dark artist. Later, after Dario finds proof of the affair, Sylva teaches him the secret to satisfying a woman. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 2002
Directed by Tinto Brass, Senso '45 takes place during the waning period of Nazi occupation in Venice, and is based on an 1882 novella written by Camillo Boito. When a wealthy, politically connected older woman named Livia (Anna Galiena) develops a relationship with Helmut (Gabriel Garko), a rakish, opportunistic SS officer, both are sucked into a state of moral decline similar to that which the country itself has gone into since the occupation. Senso '45 also features Franco Branciaroli, Antonio Salines, Loredana Cannata, Erika Savastani, and Simona Borioni.
~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anna Galiena, Gabriel Garko, (more)
- 2000
Italian smutmeister Tinto Brass directs this erotic drama which offers this dubious assertion -- a couple that sleeps around ends up loving each other more. While scouting out apartments in London for her Venetian boyfriend, bubbly Carla (Yuliya Mayarchuk) rents an apartment that overlooks the Thames. She also gets jumped by hyper-horny real estate agent Moira (Francesca Nunzi), and the two shag, shag and shag again in increasingly perverse ways. When boyfriend Matteo (Jarno Berardi) shows up, the kinky hijinks really begin. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- 1999
- NR
Comic actor Massimo Ceccherini makes his directorial debut in this broad comedy with fantasy elements. Ceccherini plays Lucio, a free-spirited bohemian who is forced into a job at a retirement home, where he soon falls in love with the beautiful head nurse, Fatima (Claudia Gerini). When Fatima proves resistant to Lucio's charm, he hatches a bizarre scheme to seduce her with the help of his best friend Pini (Alessandro Paci). Meanwhile, Lucio keeps having a strange dream where he's put on trial for the crime of self-abuse. Hailed by some critics as a satiric affront to close-minded values and derided by others as simple vulgarity, Lucignolo was a box-office hit in its native Italy, and features a cameo by director Tinto Brass, no stranger himself to extreme reactions from critics. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Massimo Ceccherini, Claudia Gerini, (more)
- 1998
This sexy comedy from Italian director Tinto Brass stars Anna Ammirati and Mario Parodi as Lola and Masseto, a young couple about to be married. While Masseto looks forward to deflowering his bride-to-be on their wedding night, Lola is reluctant to betroth herself to him without first ensuring that he will be a good lover. The more Masseto resists her advances, the harder Lola tries to convince him to break tradition and make love before the wedding. Also starring Mario Parodi and Susanna Martinkova, Monella was released in the U.K. as Frivolous Lola. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Arina Ammirati, Mario Parodi, (more)
- 1995
Tinto Brass is a noted Italian director known for his erotic films. This one is no exception except that the vignettes therein come from numerous letters, pictures, and videos detailing the sexual fantasies of his ardent female fans. The story is set in the cigar smoking director's office. While he puffs away on a cigar, his voluptuous secretary opens his mail. The contents from these letters (which come from all over Italy) are presented as vignettes. The first concerns an ordinary wife who finds thrills turning tricks while her hubby is at work. Other activities of the lusty correspondents include phone sex, partner exchanges, and a sexy poker game in which the wife is staked. In the final entry, the secretary shares her own fantasy in which the director owns a shoe store. She goes in to buy a pair of red boots and inflames him by allowing him to see that she wears nothing beneath her dress while he helps her with his boots. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1994
Lingerie, sex fantasies, and female genitalia abound in this Italian soft-core porn flick. Silvia, the exhibitionistic wife of Professor Dodo has just left him. She likes to wear skirts without underwear. He tries to get her back. He also thinks about his own actions and talks to his lusty father. In addition he also talks to his dad's sexy housekeeper, and the adoring Pascasie, one of his lovely students. Penis envy is discussed between father and son. Also discussed is the difference between voyeurism and exhibitionism. Mostly, the film offers views of female flesh at every turn. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Francesco Casale, Katarina Vasilissa, (more)
- 1992
Tinto Brass, one of Europe's masters of softcore eroticism, directed this examination of the joys of infidelity. Diana (Claudia Koll) is married to Paolo (Paolo Lanza), but while she loves her husband, she often finds herself tempted by other men. Rather than keeping her affairs a secret, Diana shares the details with Paolo, and the mingled excitement and jealousy keeps their relationship hot. However, Diana begins to wonder if she's gone too far when she becomes involved with Alphonse, a writer who worships Diana's derrière. Paolo is convinced Diana has crossed the line, and in a huff she goes on a tear with the help of her sisters. Is it too late to save Diana and Paolo's marriage? Cosi Fan Tutte was released on home video in the United States under the title All Ladies Do It. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Claudia Koll, Paolo Lanza, (more)
- 1989
This time, Italian soft-core maestro Tinto Brass doesn't even try to masquerade his opus as a political drama or social criticism. A young country girl (Debora Caprioglio) comes to town and works in a brothel in order to help her fiance get the money to start his own business. "Paprika" is the name given to her by the madam. ~ Yuri German, Rovi
- Starring:
- Debora Caprioglio, Martine Brochard, (more)
- 1988
Giancarlo Giannini plays a lawyer who now collects debts for his partner (Philippe Leotard) in this crime drama. He drops a woman off at a hospital before meeting with the teenage crime kingpin Molleco (Francois Negret). The two proceed to tear apart a hotel called the Snack Bar Budapest to force out the owners. Giannini accidently kills one of Molleco's punks and starts another wave of gang violence. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Giancarlo Giannini, Philippe Léotard, (more)
- 1987
- R
Jennifer (Nicola Warren) and her husband, Fred (Andy J. Forest), seek out their old lovers for another fling in this erotic drama. Fred hooks up with the prostitute Rosalba (Francesca Dellera), while Jennifer returns to the arms of the handsome pimp Ciro (Luigi Laezza). The unfaithful couple return to each other after the affairs prove to be less satisfying then the memory of their initial experiences. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nicola Warren, Andy J. Forest, (more)
- 1985
In this weakly plotted drama with abundant sex, Miranda (Serena Grandi) is a bulbous, overweight manager of a country pub and inn just outside of Venice. Miranda thinks she is a widow since her husband has been missing since World War II. To compensate for her widow's needs, she beds down a series of men ranging from a local trucker to a Consul. Sexual encounters take place often and anywhere (from the precincts of a urinal to the muddy back woods), with various numbers of people involved. Eventually, Miranda ends up with the most unlikely suitor. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Serena Grandi, Andy J. Forest, (more)
- 1983
A husband and wife lock their diaries in a drawer and also know that they read each other's entries, a device which takes them from one sexual encounter to another in this nearly two-hour softporn film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Frank Finlay, Stefania Sandrelli, (more)
This lavish big-budget epic was the pinnacle of a uniquely Italian subgenre, the historical hardcore gore/porn extravaganza. The star-studded cast, perhaps lured by the high-profile involvement of producer Bob Guccione and screenwriter Gore Vidal, includes such luminaries as John Gielgud, Peter O'Toole, and Helen Mirren. Director Tinto Brass, whose similar treatment of Nazi Germany in Salon Kitty won him the job, did his best with the mammoth enterprise, but numerous production problems and re-edits took their toll on the finished product. When Caligula works best, it works because of Malcolm McDowell, whose crazed portrayal of the title Emperor is the embodiment of villainous corruption. McDowell raises his performance level to match the gaudy spectacle around him, which led to charges of overacting, but there are moments when he is absolutely riveting. Some of the cast doesn't fare as well, as O'Toole makes a particularly unsubtle Tiberius. The sex is graphic and steamy, particularly a feverish lesbian interlude between Penthouse Pets Lori Wagner and Marjorie Thorsen (using the pseudonym "Anneka di Lorenzo"), and the various carnival freaks used as atmosphere imbue the film with a grotesque, Fellini-like opulence. There are many memorable scenes and a magnificent score by Paul Clemente, but the heady brew of historical epic, hardcore sex, and gory violence proved overwhelming to many viewers. Still, Gore Vidal's script is surprisingly accurate, and manages to be entertainingly vulgar while bringing a rather loathsome slice of human history to vivid life, warts and all. The more explicit scenes were directed by Bob Guccione and Giancarlo Lui, causing both Vidal and Brass to remove their names from the credits. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Malcolm McDowell, Teresa Ann Savoy, (more)
- 1979
Bruno Martel Luc Merenda is an idealistic hero who questions the meaning of life in this confusing and sometimes hallucinatory erotic drama. After a night in jail, he is gang-raped by punk rockers in a garbage dump. He later saves an old man who believes he is Garibaldi Alberto Sorrentino and a woman he believes is Ophelia Susanna Javicoli. Bruno watches helplessly as she later jumps from a window. The feature recalls some of the more avant garde efforts of Italian cinema from the 1960s. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Luc Merenda, Adriana Asti, (more)
- 1975
Tinto Brass scored his first major international success with this shocking but stylish tale of decadence in the Third Reich, inspired by a true story. Madame Kitty (Ingrid Thulin) is the proprietor of one of Berlin's most luxurious brothels, where many members of the Nazi high command are her regular customers. Kitty is approached by Helmut Wallenberg (Helmut Berger), an S.S. official who orders her to shut down her business and act as his partner as he founds a new bordello, which will exclusively cater to the elite of the Nazi Party and the German military. Unknown to Kitty, Wallenberg's brothel has been staffed entirely by women recruited by the S.S. for their loyalty to the Reich, and each room has been equipped with secret recording devices, which will allow Wallenberg and his staff to not only gather blackmail material against troublesome officers, but to discover who might be expressing disloyal thoughts about Hitler's regime when their guard is down. Margherita (Teresa Ann Savoy), a pretty young prostitute working for Kitty, is especially devoted to both her job and her country, but when she falls in love with Biondo (John Steiner), a German officer and frequent customer who has grown disillusioned with both the war and National Socialism, she discovers the true purpose of "Salon Kitty," and sets out to destroy the operation, with Kitty's help. Both a scandal and a success in Europe, Salon Kitty initially played the exploitation circuit in the United States in an edited version titled Madame Kitty, though the shorter version still earned an X rating. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Helmut Berger, Ingrid Thulin, (more)
- 1970
- Add L'Urlo to Queue
Tinto Brass directed this bizarre counterculture escapade, which was shot in 1968 and reflects that momentous year in its frequently playful outrage. Anita (Tina Aumont) is a student activist whose politics move even further to the left after she's raped by police officers following her arrest during a demonstration. Her fiancée Berto (Nino Segurini) is still eager to marry her, but during a performance-art ceremony held in an industrial wasteland, Anita changes her mind and runs away. She soon meets Coso (Gigi Proietti, here billed as Luigi Proiette), who may or may not be an escaped prisoner, and together they wander from one part of Italy to another, encountering a variety of bizarre characters along the way, including a family of well-bred cannibals, a handful of mental patients who stage a revolt, a military leaders whose short stature has not stunted his arrogance, a band of angry but inept police officers and a hotel full of sexual experimentalists. Abandoning a traditional narrative once Anita and Coso hit the road, L'Urlo (aka The Howl) was Brass's second film exploring the changing mood of the Swinging Sixties, following Nerosubianco (aka Attraction and Black On White). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tina Aumont, Luigi Proietti, (more)
- 1969
Tinto Brass directed this stylish and eccentric vision of Europe during the cultural upheaval of the late-1960s. Barbara (Anita Sanders) is a beautiful woman married to Paolo (Nino Segurini), an Italian businessman who brings her along when he travels to London on business. Left to explore the city on her own, Barbara takes a walk in the park and sees a band of hippies who are enjoying the day; as Barbara explores London's bohemian district, she keeps crossing paths with an American (Terry Carter) who is tall, good looking and black. For the rest of the day, Barbara drifts in and out of a world of fantasy where she leaves her stodgy husband for an adventure with the handsome stranger, while a variety of hallucinogenic tableaux play out around her as a rock band provides a running commentary on the action. Filled with the sort of casual nudity and striking visuals that would play a much larger role in Tinto Brass's later work, Nerosubianco (aka Attraction) features a number of original songs performed on screen by Freedom, a group led by Ray Royer and Bobby Harrison, founding members of Procol Harum. The film was released in the United States under the titles Black On White and The Artful Penetration of Barbara. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anita Sanders, Terry Carter, (more)
- 1969
Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero headline this off-beat medieval drama in which Redgrave plays an allegedly insane woman who is allowed to finally leave the madhouse to see if she is capable of functioning normally. Her parents pay no attention to her and eventually sell her to a creditor. En route she escapes and runs into a poacher. She explains her terrible situation via flashback. He feels sympathetic and so the two head off for many free-flowing adventures. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
This Italian-French co-production weds the giallo thriller with pop hipness in a manner akin to Blow-Up, but comes across as a less-inspired variant on the same year's La Morte Ha Fatto l'Uovo. Like that film, Col Cuore in Gola stars Jean-Louis Trintignant and Ewa Aulin in a loud, deranged thriller with hallucinatory visuals, irritating music, and plentiful visual references to kitsch culture. In this case, however, cult filmmaker Tinto Brass (Caligula) has only managed to be grating in telling the tale of a French actor named Bernard (Trintignant), who meets pretty Jane (Aulin) by the corpse of a murdered nightclub owner. Bernard knows Jane didn't commit the crime, and he starts to fall in love with her while running around London to the ear-piercing strains of Armando Trovajoli's score and through the wearingly garish production designs of Carmelo Patrono, who was influenced by the lurid comic-book art of Guido Crepax. Brass edits the film with a jackhammer, occasionally switching from color to black-and-white without apparent motive, and the whole thing looks more like a bad acid trip than the sort of Nouvelle Vague thriller for which he was obviously striving, wasting some fairly interesting cinematography by Silvano Tranquilli. Completists will want to look for an uncredited David Prowse as a hoodlum, and will no doubt be entranced by Ewa Aulin in yet another of the garish pop junk-heaps that comprised her career. She followed this one with the disappointing Candy and the demented Microscopic Liquid Subway to Oblivion. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
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