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THE WORKS OF TINTO BRASSCosì 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?
artisti associati international
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| Soggetto (original story) | Tinto Brass |
| Sceneggiatura (screenplay) | Tinto Brass, Bernardino Zapponi, Francesco Costa |
| Fotografia (directors of photography) | Silvano Ippoliti, Massimo Di Venanzo |
| Musiche di (music by) | Pino Donaggio |
| Dirette da (directed by) | Natale Massara |
| Scenografia (art direction) | Paolo Biagetti |
| Arredamento (set décor) | Bruno Cesari |
| Ideatore dei costumi (costumes created by) | Jost Jakob |
| Collaborazione al montaggio (assistant editor) | Fiorenza Müller |
| Segretaria di edizione (continuity) | Carla Cipriani |
| Fotografo di scena (still photographer) | Gianfranco Salis |
| Organizzatore amministrativo (accounting manager) |
Mario Sampaolo |
| Direttore di produzione (production manager) | Vittorio Fornasiero |
| Organizzatore della produzione (general manager) |
Stefano Rolla |
| Diretto e montato da (directed and edited by) |
Tinto Brass |
| Aiuto regista (assistant director) | Germano Tarricone |
| Assistente alla regia (asst. to the director) | Maurizio Martinoli |
| Assistente al montaggio (assistant to the editor) | Emanuela Lucidi |
| Assistenti operatori (assistant camera operators) |
Ettore Corso, Andrea Doria |
| Steadycam | Carlo Montuori |
| Aiuto operatore (assistant camera operator) | Giorgio Freudenstein |
| Fonico (sound) | Roberto Alberghini |
| Microfonista (boom operator) | Marco di Biase |
| Assistente scenografo (assistant art director) | Luigia Battani |
| Costumista (costume designer) | Luigi Bonanno |
| Assistente costumista (assistant costume designer) |
Monia Carraretto |
| Parrucchiere (hairdresser) | Jole Cecchini |
| Assistente parrucchiere (assistant hairdresser) | Carla Indoni |
| Truccatore (make-up) | Bruno Vasco Tarallo |
| Assistente truccatore (assistant make-up) | Massimiliano Lucci |
| Coreografa (choreography) | Gabriella Borni |
| Assistente coreografa (assistant choreographer) | Rosa Russo |
| Maestro d’armi (stunt coordinator) | Giorgio Ricci |
| Sarto (tailor) | Amedeo Monti |
| Capo elettricista (gaffer) | Sergio Spila |
| Elettricisti (best boys) | Marcello Cardarelli, Franco Gubbiotti, Franco Cardarelli |
| Capo Macchinista (key grip) | Massimo Galiano |
| Macchinisti (grips) | Vittorio Rocchetti, Maruizio Benvenuto |
| Capo Attrezzista (prop master) | Roberto Magagnini |
| Attrezzisti (props) | Walter Gatti, Marco Davoli, Paolo del Grande, Giancarlo Sensidoni, Barnaba Pagliarini |
| Ispettori di produzione (unit managers) | Matteo Rolla, Alessandro Mancini, Vincenzo Guglielmi |
| Segretari di produzione (production secretaries) | Francesca Deodato, Filippo Deodato, Giancarlo Lanzeri, Annamaria Severini, Mauro Babini |
| Amministratore (production accountant) | Giulia Saccucci |
| Cassiere (paymaster) | Stefano Pietropaoli |
| Ufficio stampa (publicity) | Lucherini-Pignatelli |
| English-version dialogue adaptation and supervision | Ted Rusoff |
| Teatri di posa - laboratorio (studio - lab) | Cinecittà |
| Pellicola (raw stock) | Kodak S.p.A. |
| Tecnico del colore (color technician) | Stefano Giovannini |
| Sonorizzazione (recording studio) | Fonoroma Fillm Recording |
| English-version sound technician | Sandro Pallottini |
| English-version sound mixer | Romano Checcacci |
| Fonico del doppiaggio (dubbing recorder) | Marco Lippi |
| Assistente al doppiaggio (assistant dubber) | Corrado Russo |
| Mixage (mixer) | Alberto Doni |
| Effetti sonori (sound effects) | Union Cineaudio, Fernando Caso, Alvaro Gramigna |
| Titoli e truke (titles and opticals) | Studio 4 |
| Sartoria (wardrobe) | G.P. 11, Silvestri Wilma |
| Gioielli (jewelry) | L.A.B.A. - Roma |
| Calzature (shoes) | L.C.P. |
| Parrucche (wigs) | Rocchetti - Carboni |
| Tappezzeria (upholstery) | Artigiana Arredatori e Tappezzieri |
| Arredamento (set décor) | G.R.P., Dedalo, Rancati |
| Mezzi tecnici (technical equipment) | Arco Due, Petracca |
| Trasporti (transport) | Romana Trasporti Cinematografici |
| Assicurazione (insurance) | Assitalia |
| Biancheria intima (underwear) | Le Foglie |
| Edizioni musicali e registrazioni (music publishers) |
Bixio C.A. S.r.l. / BMG Ariola S.p.A. |
| Mixage delle musiche (music mixer) | Giorgio Agazzi |
| Musiche di repertorio (musical excerpts) | CAMMINANDO SOTTO LA PIOGGIA di P. Frustaci - E. Macario / C. Rizzo edizioni Curci GOOOL!!! di A. P. Piazzolla edizioni Curci / Paganmusic LOVE RAIDER di P. Steffan - P. Donaggio cantata dai Trash Company edizioni Bixio C.A. / BMG Ariola COSÌ FAN TUTTE di Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [uncredited] EVERYBODY F CK NOW by DJ Liberty (R Clivilles and F Williams) (adapted from TAKE CONTROL by Digital Sappers (Diego Abaribi, Mauro Marcolin, and Valerio Gaffurini) which in turn was adapted from C & C Music Factory’s GONNA MAKE YOU SWEAT) [uncredited] |
| Si ringraziano (we thank) | Intesa & Intesa s.r.l. Cincotta s.p.a. Francesco Elli eC. s.p.a. Altrenotti s.p.a. Fontana Arte s.p.a. O Luce s.p.a. KMP Italia s.p.a. Un Jaron en Plus Annibale Colombo s.r.l. Mediterraneamobili s.p.a. Vibieffe s.r.l. Artemide s.p.a. Mobili Berloni s.p.a. Apple Computer s.p.a. Sisal Tappeti Piacenza CALP s.p.a. Poltrona Frau s.r.l. Minotti s.p.a. Auras s.r.l. Edra s.p.a. Fiamitalia s.p.a. Caporali La Porcellana Bianca s.p.a. Devone Devone English Supplies |
| Prodotto da (produced by) | Giovanni Bertolucci per la San Francisco Film S.r.l., Achille Manzotti per la Faso Film S.r.l. |
| PERSONAGGI E INTERPRETI | |
| Diana | Claudia Koll |
| Paolo | Paolo Lanza |
| Nadia | Ornella Marcucci |
| Antonietta | Isabella Deiana |
| Sig. Silvio | Renzo Rinaldi |
| ??? | Jean René le Moine |
| ??? | Marco Marciani |
| Lello | Maurizio Martinoli |
| ??? | Luciana Cirenei |
| Commendator Scarfatti’s niece | Rossana di Pierro |
| ??? | Antonio Conte |
| Passenger in bus | Osiride Pevarello |
| ??? | Rosa Maria Pezzullo |
| Poetess | Lucia Lucchesino |
| Tomasina? (trying on panties) | Pierangela Vallerino |
| Alphonse Donatienne | Franco Branciaroli |
| Comendator Scarfatti | Tinto Brass [uncredited] |
