RIP Tinto Brass

 

The master of Italian erotic cinema Tinto Brass died in Rome on November 4th he was 93. The author who more than any other has tied his name to the desire on the big screen, transforming it into a recognizable, provocative language, often desecrating (and almost always, like it or not, scandalous). Irony, sensuality and freedom of the body: these are the cornerstones of an unmistakable aesthetic, which challenged taboos and moral conventions making him one of the most well-known Italian directors abroad. Born Giovanni Brass in Milan on March 26, 1933, he grew up in Venice, in a family where art and law have been living together for generations. His grandfather Italico, a Gorizian by birth, had settled in the lagoon by purchasing the Abbey of Mercy, transformed into a sort of private gallery for his own works and others. His father, Alessandro, is one of the city's most established criminal lawyers. So, the young Tinto enrolled in Law, first in Padua and then in Ferrara, where he graduated in 1957. The thesis, however, already betrays the vocation: the working relationships with the companies of film production. A pure cinephile training, in short, that those who have dismissed it as a simple craftsman of eros have always preferred to forget. The debut came in 1963 with “In capo al mondo”, an anarchist apologist and mocking about the discomfort of a young man who cannot integrate into society, presented at the Venice Film Festival. His most memorable works followed “Those Who Work are Lost” (1963), “With the Heart in Their Throat” (1967), “The Scream” (1968), “Nerosubianco” (1969), “The Holiday” (1971), “Salon Kitty” (1976), “Caligula” (1979), “Action” (1980), “The Key” (1983), “Miranda” (1985), “Capriccio” (1987), “Snack Bar Budapest” (1988), “Paprika” (1991), “Così fan tutte” (1992), “The Man Who Looks” (1994), “Monella” (1998), “Senso ’Fallo!” (2003) and “Monamour” (2005). His only Spaghetti western was “Yankee” in 1966 which he was director, writer and editor.