Tinto Brass, Director of 'Caligula' and 'Salon Kitty', Dies at 93
The Milan-born filmmaker passed away Wednesday, leaving behind a career defined by erotic cinema and frequent clashes with censors and producers.
By Grace Almasi ·
Tinto Brass, the Italian director responsible for the erotic epics 'Caligula' and 'Salon Kitty,' has died. His family confirmed the news to the Italian press agency Ansa on Wednesday. He was 93 years old.
Brass was born in Milan in 1933 into a Venetian family of artists. He initially pursued a degree in law before shifting his focus to film in the late 1950s. He eventually secured a position as an archivist at the Cinémathèque Française in Paris. There, he met Roberto Rossellini and served as an assistant on the war drama 'General della Rovere.'
His directorial debut arrived in 1963 with 'In Capo Al Mondo,' a story set in Venice about an unemployed young man with antisocial tendencies. The film, later retitled 'Chi Lavora è Perduto,' received enthusiastic praise at the Venice Film Festival. It also sparked the first of many battles with Italian censors.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Brass worked primarily in London. He shot several English-language films during that period, including the 1967 thriller 'Deadly Sweet.' That movie starred Jean-Louis Trintignant and Ewa Aulin. A restored version of 'Deadly Sweet' screened at the Venice International Film Festival earlier this year as a tribute to Brass.
Brass achieved international recognition with 'Salon Kitty' in 1976. The film depicted a high-class Berlin brothel used by the Nazi intelligence service and starred Helmut Berger. His most well-known work outside Italy is 'Caligula.'
The production of 'Caligula' became highly contentious. Bob Guccione, founder of Penthouse, self-financed the project in 1980. After feuding with Brass and screenwriter Gore Vidal, Guccione took control of the picture. He discarded the original script and added adult content filmed after the principal cast, which included Helen Mirren, Malcolm McDowell, John Gielgud, and Peter O'Toole, had completed their shooting. Brass and Vidal sued to have their names removed from the final cut. The film was released in 1984.
Brass continued working into the new millennium. He directed 'The Key' in 1983, an adaptation of a novel by Tanizaki Junichiro starring Stefania Sandrelli. Later works, including 'Black Angel' in 2002 and 'Fallo' in 2003, focused on the sexual liberation of female characters. He is survived by his wife, Caterina Varzi, and their two children, Bonifacio and Beatrice.
