The Key [DVD]

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Tinto Brass is the type of pure spirit that is automatically not going to be for everyone. Even in the world of cinematic Eros, Tinto is the perversive and pervasive outlier, often weaving in elements of the outré that can slither into straight up dada. This is something he should be rightfully exalted for! After all, simple prurience is old hat. Creators of pure, unimaginative smut are rarely remembered, much less celebrated and discussed. However, it takes a true visionary to infuse sexual imagery and sensuous stories with something special and rarefied that can capture us with various levels of thrall. Brass' films since his early works follow an impressionistic style – they tend not to show immense landscapes, but bits and pieces of the scenery and peripheral characters and objects through pans and zooms, thus imitating how the viewer might see the events if he were actually present. This also gives the films an extraordinarily rapid pace. He often uses a television-like multicam method of shooting, with at least three cameras running at once, each focusing on something different. The plot of The Key is dervied from the novel Kagi by Jun'ichirô Tanizaki, which has been adapted numerous times including 1959's Odd Obsession by Kon Ichikawa and another little seen version made the same year in '83 by Akitaka Kimata. The original 1956 novel was written in diary form between the husband and wife, with a sexual frankness that made it one of the more controversial works for the author (who also wrote the often-filmed Manji). After his wife's death, Brass began a relationship with lawyer Caterina Varzi (b. 1961) who starred in his 2009 short film Hotel Courbet. They married in 2017. [15] Throughout the film, the themes of love and infidelity are explored with nuanced sensitivity, and the performances by the leading actors are both tender and heartbreaking. Finlay delivers a powerful portrayal of an aging man struggling to maintain his sense of masculinity, while Sandrelli's unflinching performance as the object of his obsession is both vulnerable and strong.

This DVD had been calling out to me from the cult section of my local video store for about two months before I rented it. The cover art of Stefania projects an allure that is only the begining of a very profound experience. Brass manages to create a film that doesn't make some epic statement of love, society and relationships. Instead he presents a rather odd and erotic situation that makes you think and feel (in various ways) the gravity of the characters situations. The film is also not afraid to come accross as a little silly at times. The film's visual style is also worth noting, with its lush and dreamy cinematography capturing the beauty and decay of Venice's canals and crumbling buildings. The period costumes and set design are also meticulously crafted and add to the film's sense of time and place. Films in Review: Article about Nerosubianco, and about the retrospective". Archived from the original on 29 August 2014 . Retrieved 29 August 2014. Frank Finlay is aptly cast as the professor, returning to Venice for the third time in his career, having hatched Iago's plan to sexually manipulate Othello in the Olivier film there, and then having been imprisoned in Venice by the Inquisition for his sexual transgressions as the title character in Dennis Potter's mini-series Casanova. Stephania Sandrelli gives a spirited and extraordinarily brave performance as Teresa, throwing off her art-house airs to luxuriate in the most lurid scenes of soft-core erotica, and having the voluptuousness and acting skill to trace her characters emotional and physical journey in the most eye-poppingly sexy and seductive way. Oh, let’s count the ways, starting with provocateur, auteur, ass-obsessed, movie director, subversive, sleazy, uncompromising, golden, offensive, vital, brilliant, gutsy, and most importantly, artistic.This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. Almost every country got to see this film before America, who came very late to the game after gray market copies were traded around for years. The film was officially released on DVD in virtually identical transfers in both the US and UK in the early 2000s, letterboxed at 1.66:1. For some reason both DVDs claimed to be 16:9 enhanced, but neither actually were. The US Cult Epics transfer incorporated about 12 minutes of Italian dialogue which was trimmed from English prints, and a remastered anamorphic version was eventually released as part of the label's discontinued Tinto Brass Collection box set. The Cult Epics disc also contains a hefty 17-minute video interview with Brass, a photo gallery, filmographies for Brass and Sandrelli, and the original European trailers for this film, Miranda, and All Ladies Do It, the last of which is mostly a very funny conversation between Brass and his leading lady. Giovanni " Tinto" Brass (born 26 March 1933) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. In the 1960s and 1970s, he directed many critically acclaimed avant-garde films of various genres. Today, he is mainly known for his later work in the erotic genre, with films such as Caligula, Così fan tutte (released under the English title All Ladies Do It), Paprika, Monella ( Frivolous Lola) and Trasgredire. L'urlo was shown in competition at Berlin Film Festival 1970. [8] La Vacanza, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero won the prize of the film critics for the best Italian film at 1971 Venice Film Festival. [9] [ unreliable source?] In 1972, Brass was a member of the jury at the 22nd Berlin International Film Festival. [10] Erotic cinema [ edit ] The Key ( Italian: La chiave) is an Italian erotic film directed by Tinto Brass. Set in Venice under the fascist regime in the early months of 1940, it recounts a tale of a voluptuous woman in her forties who is unable to respond to her husband but undergoes a belated sexual awakening with her daughter's fiancé, which enables her to please her husband at last. The film caused scandal in some quarters because it contains several explicit shots of nudity (characterised by certain critics as "gynecological") [2] and sex scenes involving the well-known actress Stefania Sandrelli. [2] [3] However, the film ultimately obtained a decent level of commercial success. [2] [3] Plot [ edit ]

As usual with Brass, this is a very classy sex film, with Hollywood-class production values. (This, I might add, is a rare exception, not the rule, among other sex-film makers. Radley Metzger is the only other director I can think of offhand whose sex films invariably have great production values.). Stefania Sandrelli is an absolutely stunning woman, with a gorgeously filled-out body, unlike the skinny-jinnies that many other directors are fond of. The film is set in Venice in 1940 and the locales are beautiful, while at the same time focusing on a "native's Venice," rather than the few over-photographed canals and churches one generally sees. Brass almost always works in a cameo for his friend Osiride Pevarello and himself as well. He was also featured as the presenter in the direct-to-video erotic short films compilation Tinto Brass presenta Corti Circuiti Erotici released in four volumes in 1999. Find sources: "Tinto Brass"– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( March 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Chi è Caterina Varzì, moglie di Tinto Brass". Viaggi News (in Italian). 10 July 2010 . Retrieved 25 August 2020. Sally K. Brass (not related): "Director's Quest for Reality". In: Los Angeles Times, 2. September 1970, S. 13.The Key is based on Kagi by Tanizaki Junichiro. The book had been previously adapted to film by Kon Ichikawa in Odd Obsession. [4] Brass' film relocates the story to Mussolini's time and changes the setting to Venice. [4] Cast [ edit ] Arrow (Blu-Ray & DVD) (UK RB/R2 HD/PAL) / WS (1.78:1) (16:9), Cult Epics (US R0 NTSC), Raro (Italy R0 PAL) / WS (1.66:1) (16:9) La Chiave" is one in a series of medallions of beautiful women,astounding studies of women,on a par with Miranda (1985),Andrea Barzini's Desiderando Giulia (1985),Andrea Bianchi's Dolce Pelle Di Angela (1987),Spiando Marina (1992),L'Uomo Che Guarda (1994),Malèna (2000) ,etc..In the unconventional erotica,Brass' equals are the far less famous Andrea Barzini (the author of the best Serena Grandi show,made when she was 27 years),Andrea Bianchi,the author of the underrated Dolce Pelle Di Angela (1987).These masterpieces,signed by Bianchi and Barzini,and other wonderful Deborah Caprioglio and Serena Grandi shows could be seen in Romanian movie theaters 13 years ago.