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THE WORKS OF TINTO BRASSPaprika(1991)
“Tinto Brass Reopens the Closed Houses.”
That was the film’s byline.
Brass wanted to pay homage to the brothels of his 1950’s youth,
and so he apparently reworked and modernized his Fanny Hill screenplay.
He had the script completed at least as early as 1986, but couldn’t find the right actress to play the lead.
Finally he saw a news photo of a tennis match, with Klaus Kinski’s ex-girlfriend Debora Caprioglio looking on.
That was the face he had been looking for.
He contacted the newspaper photographer, who gave him Caprioglio’s phone number.
Brass called the number and Caprioglio’s mother answered.
“Is this really Tinto Brass?” she asked.
“Hold on! I’ll get my daughter for you right away!”
Now that’s a great mom!
Brass had previously included copious nudity and simulated sex in his movies, but that was never his focus.
His focus instead was on emotions — rather profound emotions.
Many audiences, however, couldn’t tell the difference, and dismissed his films as works of pornography.
To many people, apparently, a nude is a nude is a nude, and the presence of a nude definitively makes a work pornographic.
With Paprika there was a distinct change, for its primary purpose was to explore eroticism and arousal,
and hence it is arguably a work of sheer exploitation.
But it’s exploitation with a purpose, for it seeks to present sexual arousal as equally important as any other human experience, desire, or emotion.
Further, the examination of prostitution from the prostitutes’s point of view is, in part, genuinely frightening.
To make his points, Brass needed to be extreme, but he also needed to be extremely humorous.
Brass also makes an argument for the cultural importance of the brothel (I can’t relate to that at all),
which was a rather refined meeting ground for all levels of society in pre-prohibition Italy,
and he laments its degradation into a seedy locus for a quick romp.
The story itself is not notably creative, but it serves as a launching pad for an argument seldom made in movies before,
and probably never made as forcefully.
Fiancé Nino in need of money,
innocent 18-year-old lass decides to move into a bordello for only two weeks to earn some money.
When she has a surprise encounter with the future Mrs. Nino, she concludes she has no reason to quit her new job,
and so tours the bordello circuit in Italy and France.
Finally she marries a goofy old count who has the discourtesy to drop dead.
The new countess returns to see her friends at her first bordello as it’s being closed by the government.
On a superficial level, the movie appears superficial, and that was precisely the point.
It would have been counterproductive for the movie to have noticeably lofty intentions.
The movie is a time-capsule into a slightly earlier age, an age that is largely forgotten already.
That is its importance.
WHERE HAVE WE HEARD THAT
BEFORE? The title theme is a repeat of the
funniest polka from The Key. Three themes from
Capriccio are repeated, as well as two from
Miranda and one from Snack Bar
Budapest.
OTHER NOTES:
How many other movies have a sex scene scored with an Edith Piaf song?
The best piece of music, a double-speeded “Ciribiribin,” ends far too soon.
I could listen to it all day long.
I’d love to blast it on a concert-sound system in my neighborhood — all the time.
No matter what else I or anyone else might think of this film,
the use of that song gave me one of the loudest and hardest laughs I’ve ever had in my life.
There’s almost as much blue neon in this film as there was in
Snack Bar Budapest.
There are two references to Salon Kitty:
one in which Madame Collette performs a cabaret number,
and another that repeats the most surreal scene in Salon Kitty,
in which a prostitute (here played by Valentine Demy) gets rabies.
The original was much better.
This film has the ugliest guy you’ve ever seen, along with a bunch of the most unpleasant,
including Paprika’s client/uncle.
I’ve never seen John Steiner ham it up so much as he does here.
Come to think of it, I’ve never seen any actor ham it up so much as John Steiner does here.
There’s also a disturbing scene reminiscent of Rudolf Leonhardt and G. W. Pabst’s
Das Tagebuch einer Verloren (Diary of a Lost Girl)
in which it’s impossible to tell whether what we’re seeing is a seduction or a rape.
After a short while it’s difficult not to feel sorry for all the performers in this film,
because although this isn’t hardcore, in many ways it’s more extreme and much more embarrassing.
Fans of T&A will probably get a great kick out of Paprika,
more so than they would from any other Brass movie except possibly for Fallo.
MONEY: This movie made a mint. And it wasn’t just guys who made it successful. Gals apparently loved it too.
BERNARDINO ZAPPONI. This film first of two collaborations between Brass and Fellini’s frequent coauthor,
who had previously penned such notable Fellini films as
Toby Dammit (an episode of Spirits of the Dead), Roma, Casanova, and
La città delle donne (The City of Women),
as well as a Dario Argento film called Profondo rosso.
Apparently this movie was inspired by a pseudonymous short story he had published.
Tinto Brass read it, immediately recognized the style, called Zapponi and asked if he was the author,
and when Zapponi confessed, Brass offered him a scriptwriting job.
The two would work together again on the other of Brass’s two fluffiest films,
Così fan tutte.
A REFERENCE: A train passenger is reading Ed McBain’s
L’altra parte della città.
I don’t know the significance of that.
Augusto Caminito presenta
|
| Soggetto e sceneggiatura (original story and screenplay) |
Tinto Brass, Bernardino Zapponi |
| Scenografia (art direction) | Paolo Biagetti |
| Arredamento (set décor) | Bruno Cesari |
| Costumi (costumes) | Jost Jakob |
| Musiche composte e dirette da (music composed and directed by) |
Riz Ortolani |
| Direttore della fotografia (director of photography) |
Silvano Ippoliti |
| Collaborazione al montaggio (assistant editor) | Fiorenza Müller |
| Segretaria di edizione (continuity) | Carla Cipriani |
| Fotografo di scena (still photographer) | Gianfranco Salis |
| Direttore di produzione (production manager) | Vittorio Fornasiero |
| Organizzatore generale (general manager) | Claudio Grassetti |
| Diretto e montato da (directed and edited by) |
Tinto Brass |
| Aiuto regista (assistant director) | Francesco Ascione |
| Assistente alla regia (asst. to the director) | Germano Tarricone |
| Assistenti al montaggio (assistants to the editor) | Emanuela Cucidi, Giovanna Ritter |
| Cameramen | Massimo di Venanzo, Ettore Corso |
| Aiuti operatori (assistant camera operators) | Camillo Sabatini, Renato Palmieri, Andrea Doria |
| Coreografo (choreography) | Gabriella Borni |
| Ufficio stampa (publicity) | Adriano Pintaldi, Isabella Gullo |
| Costumista (costume designer) | Luigi Bonanno |
| Truccatori (make-up artists) | Claudia Shone, Dirk Naastepad |
| Parrucchieri (hairdressers) | Vitaliana Patacca, Martina Patacca |
| Aiuti scenografo (assistant art directors) | Luigia Battani, Federico Brasca |
| Capo elettricista (gaffer) | Sergio Spila |
| Capo macchinista (key grip) | Massimo Galiano |
| Capo Attrezzista (prop master) | Roberto Magagnini |
| Fonico (sound) | Roberto Alberghini |
| Microfonista (boom operator) | Marco di Biase |
| Elettricisti (best boys) | Marcello Cardarelli, Franco Cardarelli, Franco Gubbiotti |
| Macchinisti (grips) | Vittorio Rocchetti, Jean Michel Poggioli, Marco Vitali |
| Attrezzisti (prop masters) | Walter Gatti, Marcello Nolfo |
| Sarte (dressmakers) | Alberta Ceccarelli, Anna Maria Rinaldi |
| Falegname (carpenter) | Marco Davoli |
| Tappezziere (upholsterer) | Rodolfo Mignacca |
| Pittore (painter) | Claudio D’Angelo |
| Scultore (sculptor) | Paolo Del Grande |
| Ispettore di produzione (unit manager) | Silvano Spoletini |
| Segretari di produzione (production secretaries) | Filippo Deodato, Francesca Deodato, Mauro Babini |
| Ispettore di produzione a como | Massimo Santorsola per la Lupetta 5 |
| Amministratori-Cassieri (accountants-paymasters) |
Fausto Capozzi, Patrizia Mastrofini |
| Teatri di posa (interiors) | De Paolis |
| Negativi (negative stock) | Fuji - Kodak |
| Sviluppo e stampa (lab) | Telecolor s.p.a. |
| Tecnico del colore (color technician) | Pasquale Cuzzupoli |
| Titoli e truke (titles and opticals) | Studio 4 |
| Assistente di doppiaggio (assistant dubber) | Emanuela Fantini |
| Fonico di doppiaggio (dubbing recorder) | Marco Lippi |
| Mixage (mixer) | Alberto Doni |
| Sonorizzazione (recording studio) | Cooperativa di Lavoro Fono Roma |
| Effetti sonori (sound effects) | Cine audio effects, Fernando Caso, Alvaro Gramigna |
| Sartoria (wardrobe) | Neri NTM, Russo, G.P. 11 |
| Calzature (shoes) | L.C.P. s.r.l. |
| Parrucche (wigs) | Rocchetti - Carboni |
| Gioielli (jewelry) | Lembo |
| Pellicce (furs) | De Carlis |
| Arredamento (set décor) | Dedalo, Postiglione, Sanchini |
| Mezzi tecnici (technical equipment) | Arco Due s.r.l. |
| Trasporti (transport) | Romana Trasporti Cinematografici s.r.l. |
| Musiche di repertorio (musical excerpts) | MON MANÈGE A MOI (N. Glanzberg / J. Constantin) Edith Piaf Ed. Leonardi Disco EMI Italiana JOLIE MOME Leo Ferré Ed. Peer Edizione Musicale TU M’AIMES, DIS, CHERI Leo Kok / Leo Lellevre Fils / P. de Lima LA PLUS BATH DE JAVAS (Georgius / Tremolo) Ed. Southern CIRIBIRIBIN (C. Tiochet / A. Pestatozza) Renato Carosone Ed. Nuova Carisch s.r.l. Disco EMI Italiana LA PANSÈ (Rendine / Pisano) Renato Carosone Ed. Rendine Disco EMI Italiana PIANOFORTISSIMO Renato Carosone Ed. Leonardi Disco EMI Italiana L’AMORE È UN PIZZICOR (B. Cherubini / C. A. Bixio) Ed. Bixio Sam Disco Cinevox MARCO ELVIRA NICOLETTA POVERO SECONDO VALZER DELL’USIGNOLO (Carlo Balardi / F. Rossi) Combo Record |
| Ismoban agenzia di sviluppo | Scai Arte Edizioni |
| Produttore esecutiva (executive producer) | Giusepe Auriemma per Scena Group S.r.l.-Roma |
| Prodotto da (produced by) | Augusto Caminito |
| PERSONAGGI E INTERPRETI | |
| Mimma Wassermann / Paprika | Debora Caprioglio |
| ??? | Stéphane Ferrara |
| Madame Collette | Martine Brochard |
| ??? | Stéphane Bonnet |
| ??? | Rossana Gavinel |
| Il conte | Renzo Rinaldi |
| ??? | Nina Soldano |
| ??? | Clara Algranti |
| ??? | Luciana Cirenei |
| Il principe | John Steiner |
| ??? | Valentine Demy |
| Nino | Luigi Laezza |
| ??? | Riccardo Garrone |
| ??? | Paul Müller |
| ??? | Clarita Gatto |
| Remo | Osiride Pevarello |
| ??? | Ornella Marcucci [uncredited] |
| ??? | Debora Vernetti |
| ??? | Elizabeth Kaza |
| ??? | Elisabetta Lupetti |
| ??? | Gabriella De Baggi |
| ??? | Carla Salerno |
| ??? | Milly Corinaldi |
| ??? | M[aria]. Cristina Mastrangeli |
| ??? | Rossella Pezzullo |
| ??? | Tiziana D’Arcangelo |
| ??? | Tilde De Spirito |
| ??? | Alessandra Bonarotta |
| ??? | Gianni Demartiis |
| ??? | Hella Estaire |
| ??? | Andrea Aureli |
| ??? | Debora Calì |
| ??? | Jacopo Gualtieri |
| ??? | Marilena Trifone |
| ??? | Domiziano Arcangeli |
| ??? | Laura Piattella |
| ??? | Eolo Capritti |
| ??? | Carla Solaro |
| ??? | Alfredo Quadrelli |
| ??? | Roberta Sarazzi |
| ??? | Fred Senika |
| ??? | M. José Da Silva |
| ??? | Felice Leveratto |
| ??? | Daniela Fedke |
| ??? | Libero Sansovini |
| ??? | Sibilla De Conti |
| ??? | Luca Lionello |
| ??? | Tiziana Del Poggio |
| ??? | Maurizio Romoli |
| Dott. Bavarelli | Tinto Brass [uncredited] |
| Bartender | Carla Cipriani [uncredited] |
