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THE WORKS OF TINTO BRASS

Part 6
AFTERMATH: ONE MORE GUERRILLA FILM AND A DREAM COME TRUE

Jump ahead to:

Action

(1979)

The above poster art is by The Phenomenal Jost Jakob

The protracted lawsuits involving Caligula made Brass unemployable. In order to rescue his reputation, he paid for his next production himself. He moved his crew to England and made this 16mm movie about an actor, Bruno (Luc Merenda), who specializes in gangster rôles in cheap action dramas. He is fired for cutting up on Tinto Brass’s set and ruining a take, and so follows his agent’s advice by taking a job with a porno production, which puts even further strain on his already strained marriage. Before he has a chance to act in a scene, he rescues Doris, an abused would-be Shakespearean actress who prefers to call herself Ophelia, from the set. Together they set forth on a journey through England, where they are attacked in a junkyard by punks, are taken in by an escaped lunatic who thinks he’s Garibaldi, and are incarcerated in an insane asylum where the delicate and emotionally unstable Ophelia commits suicide. An escape from the asylum is easy, and Bruno and Garibaldi steal a car, rob a cash register, shoot a cop, get a job pumping gas at a petrol station in the middle of nowhere, and find themselves caught in the middle of a domestic feud. This magnificent surreal work proves what we have suspected all along, namely, that the national language of England is Italian. The film was a family affair, as Brass’s wife Carla “Tinta” Cipriani was production secretary, their daughter Beatrice was continuity girl and played two rôles (continuity girl on the set at the beginning and the girl in the garbage dump who won’t wear her cast), and their son Bonifacio was still photographer. A lot of fun! Too bad it flopped.

There is a much-longer version on DVD in Italy, poorly derived from Tinto Brass’s personal print, and it has significantly more dialogue. Surprisingly, it was not the nudity that was cut from the release version.

On the set of a porn film	Ophelia is unhappy with her rôle
Horsing around in the pool	The punks are not amused
Bruno’s vision in the woods
No need for explanation	Horsing around on the set

A NOTE AND A QUESTION: Brass dubs an extra’s line: “Cosa sei, un prete?” Who dubbed Osiride Pevarello?

THE END OF PHASE ONE: This was the only time that Brass collaborated with both of his favorite writers, Giancarlo Fusco and Roberto Lerici, and it was his last collaboration with Fusco. Never again would Brass’s films have the same raw forcefulness and earthy feel that he achieved with these two artists. Never again would his films look so organically grown, almost improvised. Yes, he would achieve greatness again, but not this sort of greatness. I really miss this old style. It puts one in mind of the great comics of the teens and twenties, who felt free enough, creative enough, and confident enough to let films take on lives of their own. Pier Paolo Pasolini also had that gift. Dusan Makavejev, in WR: Mysteries of the Organism (1971) and Sweet Movie (1974) worked the same magic. But who else? I know of no one. Action not only brought to a close the most vibrant phase of Brass’s career; it also brought to a close an entire era.

The DVD, about 10 minutes longer than any other version. Too much compression, I mean, way too much compression. And the sound is about one syllable behind the picture all the way through. But it’s got optional Italian captions and optional English subtitles and a nice photogallery and an excerpt from Lorenzo Codelli’s unreleased feature-length interview with Tinto Brass (conducted in 2003) and despite all the technical glitches (I mean, why did they letterbox it at 1.85:1???), it’s still mesmerizing and hilarious and delightful and unique and quirky and memorable and just so absolutely lovely and a million times better than most other movies.

ANICA — Associazione Nazionale Industrie Cinematografiche Audiovisive e Multimediali

Tinto Brass presenta

Action

CIDIF: Consorzio Italiano Distributori Indipendenti Film

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