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!

Click here to learn the story.

THE WORKS OF TINTO BRASS


Monella

(a.k.a. Frivolous Lola, 1998)

Gioia di vivere! This is appealing to the nth degree. It’s warm, friendly, life-affirming, infectiously enthusiastic, buoyant. The story is simple: Lola won’t marry Masetto until they have sex, and Masetto won’t have sex until they’re married. After numerous adventures, she gets her way. Don’t worry about the braindead story, just have fun watching everyone in the village having a blast. Guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.

NOTE: In the Italian version, Tinto Brass dubs English-speaking Patrick Mower’s lines.


EVERY CLOUD: A car accident led to this movie. One day Brass and his wife accidentally bumped into a bicyclist. Now, Brass had been looking for a bicyclist to play the lead, and so when the cyclist threw a fit, he asked her to audition. And there you go.

By the way, it was the coming of age of Brass’s 16-year-old niece Lulù that inspired this story — as well as Mrs Tinta Brass’s wistful memories of her youth.

WARNING: Most English-language video editions are cut — just a little bit, but enough to ruin everything. Avoid them! But if you insist on getting the English dub (in which Patrick Mower actually does speak English), get the Cult Epics edition, which is complete. The English-language Cult Epics edition is rather interesting, actually. The master tape of the English dialogue had gone missing, and after a long search it finally turned up — but for some reason it had been physically cut to match the censored export print! Some of the missing material had already been included in the Dutch DVD, and so this was pulled from that earlier release. But in order to shorten one particular scene to please the censors, the Dutch DVD distributors overlapped two lines of dialogue that actually occurred some seconds apart. Because one of those lines was now missing from the master dialogue tape, we hear the other of those two lines twice. Then a little bit of dialogue during the romp in the woods was also missing, and there was simply no way to re-create it. So the sound techie, Ray Soldiuk, at Point 360 Woodholly studio in Hollywood pulled some odds and ends from other parts of the movie to cover the gap. If you didn’t know something was missing, you might never guess! Ray also spent hours upon hours upon hours tweaking the sound, making it brighter than it had ever been before. He also resynchronized the dialogue to make it match better, moving syllables up and down by a few frames, stretching, squeezing, and performing all sorts of digital trickery to make it better than Gene Luotto’s original dubbing job. Congratulations Ray!

AN HOMAGE: I wondered. I asked. I was told “No.” Then I kept wondering, asked someone who knew better, and I was told “Yes,” definitively yes. What was I wondering?

WHERE HAVE WE HEARD THAT BEFORE?Mambo italiano,” which Brass had used in Miranda, appears here again. One or two pieces from Paprika re-appear in this movie, as does the comic polka from The Key.

THE OFFICIAL AD:
http://www.cinecittaonline.it/noshock/trailers/monella.html

OTHER STUFF:
http://www.anica.it/cine/97_98/lungometraggi/Monella.htm
http://www.tempimoderni.com/1998/monella.htm


The Italian Region-2 PAL DVD, which will not play on most US equipment. The out-of-print US NTSC Region-0 DVD released in September 2004, catalogue number DVD025, with both the English and Italian soundtracks, as well as optional English subtitles and an interview with Tinto Brass. The currently available versions have either the English (DVD047) or the Italian (DVD046) soundtrack, but not both. And they contain the 1.66:1 image columnboxed at 16×9.

Reviews of the Cult Epics DVD:
Told You So
Rumour Machine
DVD Maniacs
Upcoming Discs
Cult Cuts
Hero Realm
Mondo Digital







Artisti Associati New Media
un film di Tinto Brass

Monella

Copyright © 1998
Cardinal Pictures srl - C.R.C. srl - Production Group srl - R.F.C. 2000 srl

Un produzione (a production) Cardinal Pictures srl
C.R.C. srl
Production Group srl
P.F.C.2000 srl
Realizzata da (produced by) Giovanni Bertolucci per California Film srl
Soggeto (original story) Tinto Brass, Carla Cipriani
Sceneggiatura (screenplay) Tinto Brass, Barbara Alberti, Carla Cipriani
Direttore della fotografia
(director of photography)
Massimo di Venanzo
Musiche di (music by) Pino Donaggio
Orchestra diretta da (orchestra directed by) Natale Massara
Edizioni musicali (music publishers) EMI Music Publishing Italia srl
Scenografia (art director) Carlo de Marino
Arredamento (set décor) Alessandra Martelli
Costumi (costumes) Ivan Crnojevic
Aiuto regista - edizione
(assistant director - continuity)
Carla Cipriani
Collaborazione al montaggio (assistant editor) Fiorenza Mueller
Primo assistente operatore
(first assistant cameraman)
Andrea Doria
Fotografo di scena (still photographer) Gianfranco Salis
Promozione (promotion) Saverio Ferragina
Organizzatore amministrativo
(accounting manager)
Mario Sampaolo
Organizzatore generale (general manager) Mario di Biase
Scritto diretto montato da
(written directed and edited by)
Tinto Brass
English version Gene Luotto
     ADR recorder Sandro Pallottini
     ADR organizer Clementina Luotto
Si ringraziano (we thank) Lulù
Danilo Donati
Lorenzo Codelli
Isabel Vitturi
Jarto e Anita Coppi
Maurizio Galimberti
Elena Tiberi
Locanda Cipriani - Torcello
L’amministrazione e gli abitanti di (the authorities and citizens of) Pomponesco e Dosolo per la collaborazione e l’ospitalità (for their collaboration and hospitality)
Parrucchiera (hairdresser) Jole Cecchini
Ass. parrucchiere (asst. hairdresser) Alessandro Durante
Truccatrice (make-up) Claudia Shone
Ass. truccatore (asst. make-up) Riccardo Incagnoli
Fonico (sound man) Andrea Petrucci
Microfonista (boom man) Aristide Bagliocchi
Assistente operatore (asst. cameraman) Fabrizio Ancillai
Aiuto operatore (focus puller) Emiliano Topai
Assistente alla regia (asst. to director) Stefano Costa
Assistente al montaggio (asst. editor) Giovanna Ritter
Coreografa (choreography) Gabriella Borni
Assistente costumista
(assistant costume designer)
Alessandro Bentivegna
Sarta (wardrobe) Gina la Rocca
Ispettore di produzione (unit manager) Vittorio Fornasiero
Segretari di produzione (production secretaries) Francesca Andriotto, Patirzia di Bernardino, Mauro Babini, Pietro Carpentieri, Carlo Cosimi Proietti
Amministratrice (business manager) Alessandra Sampaolo
Segretaria di edizione (continuity) Cinzia di Biase
Capo elettricista (gaffer) Sergio Spila
Elettricisti (best boys) Marcello Cardarelli, Andrea di Biase, Alessio Nannicini
Gruppista (generator operator) Riccardo Ricci
Capo macchinista (key grip) Pietro Santarelli
Macchinisti (grips) Massimiliano Anzellotti, Tonino Marra, Fabrizio Marra
Attrezzista (prop master) Remo Pizzaroni
Aiuto attrezzista (asst. prop) Sergio Pizzaroni
Autisti (chauffeurs) Fabrizio Faitanini, Maurizio Principessa
Teatri di posa Sviluppo e stampa, Macchine da presa, Mezzi tecnici (sound stages, lab, cameras, technical equipment) Cinecittà
Tecnici del colore (color technicians) Pasquale Cuzzupoli, Stefano Giovannini, Gianni Cerniglia
Macchine da presa, Mezzi tecnici
(cameras, technical equipment)
Arco Due srl
Pellicola negativa (negative stock) Fuji
Post sincronizzazione (sound studio) Fono Roma
Mixage (mixer) Alberto Doni
Fonico di doppiaggio (dubbing recorder) Stefano Nissolino
Assistente al doppiaggio (assistant dubber) Corrado Russo
Costumi (costume house) Sartoria Russo snc
Parrucche (wigs) Rocchetti & Rocchetti
Auto d’epoca (period cars) F.lli Cartocci
Calzature (footwear) Arditi CCT srl
Lampada e gelatine (lights and filters) Ditta Petracca
Trasporti e gruppi elettrogeni
(trucking and generators)
Romana Autoservizi srl
Titoli e truke (titles and opticals) Studio 4
Effetti sonori (foley studio) Cineaudio Effects
Effetti speciali (special effects) F.lli Corridori
Tappezzerie (upholstery) Sanchini sas
Arredamenti (furnishings) E. Rancati srl
Arredamenti Cineteatrali G.R.P.
Cestini (catering) Food Service (CR)
Assicurazione (insurance) Assitalia
Laboratorio fotografico (still-photo lab) Cavalieri snc
Aggettistica (bric-a-brac) La Teca dell’Immaginario
Esterni (locations) Triangolo della Gnocca
Synthesizer programmed & performed Paolo Steffan
Il libro MONELLA è pubblicato da Marsilio Editori spa
La canzone “Mona monella” Donaggio - Timbras - Emi
     è cantata da Anna Ammirati
Musiche di repertorio (musical excerpts) BE BOP A LULA
Gene Vincent - Warner Bros - Emi

NON, JE NE REGRETTE RIEN
Curci
IN THE MOOD
Glenn Miller - Curci - Sony Music
MAMBO ITALIANO
C. Boni - Franton - Nuova Fonit Celtra
LET’S TWIST AGAIN
Curtis King - Combo - Warner Chappeli
FOLLE BANDERUOLA
Mina - Polygram - Carosello
NESSUNO
Mina - Sugar Music - Corosello
VORREI SAPERE PERCHÈ
Mina - Sugar Music - Carosello
Si ringrazia inoltra (we also thank) Mario Maurizi
Tonino Tedesco
Polaroid
La Maison Louis Roederer
Wolford
Salumificio Galli Remo srl
Consorzio del Parmigiano Reggiano
Forme
Pasiglie Leone
Florarredi per Contea
Gentiuni
Olr1
Dei
Valli & Valli
La Signoria di Firenze
Artemide
Artie Mestieri
Chelini
Monica Nero
Liliana Rigattieri
Vinnaioli Jermann
La Scolca - G. Soldati
Emmeci - Infiore
Dolce Salato Zarotti Arturo
Intesa 7 Intesa
Tulli e Zuccari
Calp
Porcellana Bianca
Panificio Panella
Kriptonite
Castagneti & C.
Pietro Berto
Biciclette Opinion Leader
Rosa Splendiani
Sheraton
Nannini
Spectral Recording Dolby Stereo SR in Selected Theatres
PERSONAGGI E INTERPRETI
Lola Anna Ammirati
André Patrick Mower (dubbed by Tinto Brass in the Italian version)
Masetto Mario Parodi
Michelle Susana Martinkova (dubbed by Geneviève Hersent in the English version)
Pepè Antonio Salines
Wilma Francesca Nunzi
Ginetto Vittorio Attene
Carmelina Laura Trotter
Toni Carlo Reali
Remo Maurizio Prudenzi
Carla Edith Rozsnyai
Gildo Alberto Capone
Zaira Serena Grandi
??? Mirella Zardo
??? Emanuela Quaglia
Fra Cappuccino Osiride Pevarello
??? Roberta Fiorentini
Direttore d’orchestra Tinto Brass [uncredited]

Click here to continue to Lucignolo