Did you happen to record Monty Python’s Flying Circus when it was shown on PBS back in the 1970s? Do you still have the tapes? Is there a TIME LIFE logo at the end? If so, please write to me. Thank you!

THE WORKS OF TINTO BRASS

Erotic and Commercial Experiments—Continued

Così fan tutte

(All Ladies Do It, 1992)

Experimenting with the sex-film genre once again, Brass tried something a little more American. He wrote a story about wealthy, fashionable people, each of whose wardrobes costs more than my annual gross salary, who live in high-rise flats whose bathrooms are larger than my entire apartment, and who fritter away their time attending mind-numbingly posh parties. Brass would never do this again—well, at least not so blatantly. Oh God is this film silly. Paolo uses jealousy to increase his marriage’s excitement, wanting to hear Diana tell him of her flirtations and her fantasies about making it with other guys. But one day he discovers that one of Diana’s turn-on tales was actually true, and he splits. In a rampage, Diana lures every guy she can. But after a mere few days the couple are reconciled, as Paolo recognizes the error of his ways, and accepts his wife’s infidelity as a legitimate and valuable part of their marriage.

A friend in Milano, who never understood why I liked Tinto Brass, after 12 years finally caved in to my unending pleas and offered to send me Brass videos. “Would you like a copy of Così fan tutte?” “Of course I want a copy of Così fan tutte!!!!!!” I screamed back. The out-of-print L’Espresso VHS edition arrived in the mail a few days later. At that time I had never seen any of Brass’s post-1983 works. I had heard that his later films were not up to the level of his earlier ones. As a matter of fact, I had heard they were pretty gawd-awful. Well, hey, people said the same thing about Pasolini’s later works, and I knew how wrong they were. So I plopped the tape into my machine—and my heart sank. My God, I thought, the critics were right! But eventually I began to see things. I saw that, despite its thousand and one faults, it’s a milestone, for in one long scene it combines three aspects of junk culture—namely, discos, rap music, and Ecstasy raves—into a magnificent work of art. I was hypnotized, and watched the scene dozens of times, undoubtedly to the consternation of my neighbors who could surely hear the loud music through my walls. Even more effectively than Fellini, Brass captures the desperate loneliness that underlies such bursts of restless energy. And a few minutes after this scene, Brass has one of his funniest cameos. Then, as a coup de grâce, my buddy followed this up a week or so later with Cine Video Corporation’s VHS release of Paprika. My heart sank again—and even further. I guess he was trying to be nice while still twisting the knife. Oddly, I’ve come to sort of like both these movies, though they ain’t Tinto’s best, to be sure.

SECOND THOUGHTS: After writing the above, I had the opportunity to see the previews for Paprika and Così fan tutte, in which Tinto Brass himself appears on camera. Okay, now I get it. These films were not failures in any sense. They were exactly what he wanted to make. He wanted to make light-hearted, easy-going fluff, and he wanted Così fan tutte to be a bit preachy. And now that I’ve seen him plugging these movies, I can see how much fun he had making them, and how much affection he has for them. And so now I’ve grown remarkably fond of these movies too.

NOTE: Watch for the plug for Cipriani olive oil.

WARNING ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL VERSIONS: The Italian version, much to my initial surprise, appears to be hardcore, though a careful second viewing reveals that it isn’t at all; and we see that dear old Tinto is a master at faking things so perfectly that he fools nearly everyone. But the fakery was enough to cause considerable worry. In response, the international distributor decided to anticipate the various censor boards of the world and began to hack away mercilessly. Thus the international releases, invariably dubbed into English, are cut to ribbons. Interestingly, Brass had dubbed his own voice before the cutters got to work. Now, if you know where the uncut master English dialogue tapes are hiding, please write to me. We MUST rescue those tapes!!!!

FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH: This is the movie in which Brass confessed to the entire world his obsession with the feminine backside. The focus is so absurdly obsessive that it quickly becomes hilarious.

SILVANO IPPOLITI. This was the last film that the great cinematographer shot. He died either during the filming or shortly afterwards, and Massimo Di Venanzo, son of the great Gianni Di Venanzo, had to take over.

THE VALUE OF TRADER JOE’S. I thought the rave song was invented for the movie. So imagine my surprise when, while shopping, I heard it on the music system at a grocery store! That got me to searching for 90 minutes or so on Google and YouTube to discover what it was. It began with a hit called “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” by C & C (which I had never heard of) that was adapted into “Take Control” by an Italian group called Digital Sappers (which I had never heard of) and which was then adapted yet again by DJ Liberty (which I had never heard of). How do I get mired in all of this?

CVC DVD PAL	Dutch FilmWorks/Arrow DVD PAL	Cult Epics DVD NTSC converted from PAL via the Alchemist PhC which compensates for the difference in frame rates by dissolving each frame into the next
The Region-2 PAL DVD from Italy, with some scrap footage as an extra. This will not play on most US/Canadian equipment.	The Region-2 PAL DVD from the Netherlands and the UK, dubbed into English and cut to pieces. This will not play on most US/Canadian equipment.	The Region-0 NTSC DVD from the US, with the same scrap footage as an extra. (Cult Epics long ago withdrew the censored-and-dubbed version and replaced it with this uncut Italian edition with optional English subtitles.)
Jean-René Lemoine as the honest novice

ANICA — Associazione Nazionale Industrie Cinematografiche Audiovisive e Multimediali

artisti associati international
Giovanni Bertolucci e Achille Manzotti presentano
un film di Tinto Brass

Così fan tutte

Copyright © 1992
San Francisco Film S.r.l. - Faso Film S.r.l.

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