Brass treats the female body with the obsessive attention of a fetishist, but a romantic one. His camera is notorious for its wandering eye, famously capturing a protagonist’s bouncing cleavage or rounded hips as she walks down a cobbled street. Yet, he pairs this with a whimsical use of music—often jazzy, brassy, or carnival-like—and an inexplicable recurring obsession with blowing bubbles. The result is a cinematic world that feels like a surreal, erotic fairytale.
: This is Brass at his most psychedelic. It’s a surreal, chaotic trip through the counterculture of the late 60s, featuring bizarre imagery and a non-linear plot. Salon Kitty (1976)
Tinto Brass is essentially the cinematic equivalent of a rich, decadent dessert: you can’t live on it, it lacks nutritional value, but when you are in the mood for it, nothing else will suffice.
