Italian filmmaker Tinto Brass dies at age 93

Brass became known for his erotic films, which were often accompanied by controversy and censorship measures. His work “The Scream” was shown at the Berlinale in 1970, and he himself was a member of the jury in 1972.

Among his most significant films are “Salon Kitty” (1976) and “Caligula” (1979).

Giovanni Brass, as he was named at birth, was born on March 26, 1933, in Milan. The artist name Tinto he received from his grandfather Italico Brass, also a painter, as a tribute to the Venetian painter Jacopo Tintoretto.

Brass began his career in the 1950s at the Cinémathèque française in Paris. His debut film “Who Works is Lost” was shown at the Venice Film Festival in 1964. In 1971, he won the Film Critics’ Award there for “La Vacanza” with Franco Nero and Vanessa Redgrave.

His films later developed towards increasingly explicit erotic depictions, including “Paprika - A Life for Love” (1991), “An Immoral Woman” (1992), and “Frivolous Lola” (1998). “Caligula,” based on a novel by Gore Vidal and starring Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, and Peter O’Toole in the main roles, is considered particularly controversial. The financing came from the erotic magazine “Penthouse.” Brass was excluded from the film editing by the producers, who added hardcore pornography scenes. “I made many erotic films because I considered eroticism a fundamental key to human expression and above all the key to telling about women,” he told the newspaper “La Repubblica.”

In 1995, he caused a stir when he appeared at the Venice Film Festival with nude actresses to promote one of his films. This incident led to a legal dispute over the permissibility of sex in advertising.

The Venice Film Festival only honored him in September with a tribute and showed his film “I am as I am” (1967) at the opening. Brass was unable to attend the event due to his health condition. He is survived by his wife Caterina Varzi and two children. He was previously married to Carla Cipriani.