Monamour

I suppose I understand the young couple who apparently picked up DVD of this film because it was described as an 'erotic thriller'. Something lost in translation there , I think. And for those who take exception to the non PC and violent elements, I guess if this is your first Tinto Brass movie you could be forgiven for being taken aback that this is not all silky hand upon silky thigh to the drone of some appalling musak. But, come on everybody else, this is Mr Brass, this is Italian, so we get gutsy action, bottoms up, bottoms open and even bottoms on the toilet. True, we are given to understand that the leading lady is fantasizing/desiring all of this whereas it is of course, Mr Brass who is in charge of the fantasies portrayed, but then this is only a movie. Anna Jimskaia comes from Tashkent, Uzbekistan and has been a circus performer and gymnast, so no wonder she can bend that bottom high and so beautifully. Max Parodi is a little over the top as her failing husband but Riccardo Marino is suitably moody as her 'French' lover. This may be a bit vigorous for some, lifelike prosthetic penises make you wonder, why not the real thing but whilst perhaps not the ideal first date movie, I reckon you get what's on the can

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".

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.

If you've never seen a Tinto Brass movie, this is not a good place to start. Tinto is at his best when he's not taking himself seriously, and in Monamour he attempts some sort of depth that he just can't pull off. What's worse, the plot feels like a recycled version of one of his better films - 1992's Cosi fan Tutte - but with all the wrong choices made; Cosi fan Tutte was light-hearted and featured a strong female lead in Claudia Koll, who was in charge of her own fate the whole time; the lead in Monamour is a despicable and unlikable character who succumbs to the will of men around her. While the two characters end up having similar journeys, the viewer just can't forgive Monamour's Marta as he did Diana from Cosi fon tutte. And the fact that the movie takes itself so seriously makes the erotica disturbing and off-putting, unlike the playfulness in Cosi fon Tutte.

Monamour has good cinematography and some well-shot sex scenes which are both a given with Tinto, but the sex is more disturbing than it is enticing. While Cosi fon Tutte was almost feminist (sort of) and is lots of fun for a couple to watch together, Monamour feels more like a horny old man's fantasy, and it just doesn't work.

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!