Monamour

Tinto Brass is still probably best known in the English speaking world for "Caligula", however most people don't realize that he's had quite the career up through today making soft-core erotica, the type of which hasn't been made much since about the 1970s.

What sets Tinto apart is that he has a very specific list of things that obviously turn him on such as: unshaven underarms, mirrors, infidelity, and most famously, the female rear end. All of these tend to show up in all of his films, including "Monamour". So, it can sometimes feel like if you've seen one Tinto Brass film then you have seen them all. They differ however in quality of script, actors, and scenery. "Monamour" is paint by numbers Tinto Brass. Tinto fans will find all of the usual hallmarks in this film, however little more. I am a bigger fan of his earlier films that I feel have better plots, acting, and scenery while touching upon the exact same themes as this one.

As other reviewers have commented, it feels like later day Tinto films feature female characters who are less realistic than in his earlier films, and certainly no woman in real life would ever act like the lead character in "Monamour" who basically can't say no to any man (or woman) who wants to touch her. This is pure male fantasy, making this film a bad choice I think for couples, especially when compared to Tinto's earlier films. A single male however, provided that he enjoys the same things Tinto enjoys can enjoy this film just fine, especially as Anna Jimskaia is one of the more beautiful Tinto Brass leading ladies in my opinion, and you do see a lot of her!

Marta (Uzbek beauty Anna Khimskaia, perhaps the most gorgeous model Brass has worked with in his later softcore phase) is a bored wife neglected by her husband, Leon, a lazy, conservative literary editor who, after six months of marriage, doesn't seem to give much thought to the need to continue cultivating passion. His conception of sex clashes head-on with her fantasies, but Marta is a free spirit and unleashes libertine behavior, always under Leon's scandalized gaze. She flirts with anyone who shows even the slightest interest by her voluptuousness and, at a literary party she's forced to attend, she meets Dario, a handsome French artist who, using an overwhelming and enigmatic appearance, practically makes love to her on the spot. Attracted by Dario's audacity, Marta secretly allows herself to be seduced by Leon, who quickly not only suspects but also confirms that she's being unfaithful, thanks to a personal diary Marta keeps daily with her adulterous experiences (groping, sodomy, threesomes, etc.). In an attempt to pique Leon's interest, Marta tells him about a rape she suffered at the hands of a stranger, but he is so aware of his wife's erotic fantasies that he barely pays attention to her desperate attempts to get his attention.

Tinto Brass is probably best known in the Anglo-Saxon context for the disturbing "Caligula", but he has a very extensive career that takes him back to the first decade of the 21st century, exposing a soft yet explicit erotica, a kind of subgenre that has not been very common since the 70s. Tinto Brass's unhealthy obsession with asses, female sodomy, voluptuousness and the natural hairy nature of his actresses, together with realistic prosthetic penises (to simulate penetration or fellatio) and almost identical settings and photography, makes it very difficult to distinguish one film from another, encouraging the viewer to adopt the very typical maxim "seen one, seen them all".

It is an erotic and sensuous play around a very sexual woman who doesn't get it enough from her husband. Don't expect any semblance of real lifeism, expression of feelings and so on. Its a Tinto movie! Well, it is actually more of Anna Jimskaia's flick than Tinto's. She is a feast to watch, especially when she appears sans clothes or is in revealing attire which she is a lot many times throughout the film. Some of the clothes she wears are so "Tinto"! It is a film, a B-movie to be specific (its not a porn film) with a story and a script.

But it feels like a remix of the director's older movies. It tries to play out suggestive sexuality but in a way, it stops short of it. The psychological surge of sensuality and kink that is a characteristic of Tinto is there but is not as strong in his other films like The Voyeur. That is why feels like there is nothing much in the way of the movie. The performances of the cast could have been stronger but it is the relative weakness of script has played its part in the not-that-strong characterization of the cast.

It a turn-you-on movie. Nothing much but I like it the way it is. Worth watching just for every scene of Anna Jimskaia and the camera that's on to her!

Watching people behave with sex only on their minds without any care for social norms at all. You will find no class or style in this movie. Another tit and bum factory piece of work. The musical scores were as bland and the many empty sets and settings. It is in fact an old mans wet dream acted out by middle aged actors that lacked any passion at all, which is what the movie tries to sell and does so very poorly. It's just smut.

I watched a poorly dubbed version of what could be described as a soft porn type movie, and honestly, I kind of enjoyed it. The bad dubbing made the dialogue so awkward and nonsensical that it became unintentionally hilarious. The voice acting was completely off, and the lines often didn't make any sense in the context of the scenes, which only added to the fun. It felt like a comedy at times, as the mismatched voices and strange dialogue choices created some laugh-out-loud moments. While the plot itself wasn't anything special, the bad dub definitely gave it an amusing twist, turning what could've been a forgettable film into something more entertaining.