Review of Private

Introduction

Tinto Brass`s work is, if anything, a throwback to the kind of mucky movie being made in Europe in the early 1980s. What you have here is a series of filmic anecdotes on Brass`s favourite theme - ladies` bums. It is a theme frequently visited in his other pictures, such as the superior "Cheeky" with Yuliya Mayarchuk (shot in London). "Private" (or "Do It!" as the promotional materials give the title) was shot in a number of locations across Europe. The title may be attempting to encroach on the territory of the p0rn producers of the same name, but they do much the same thing with more style and without the use of prosthetic genitalia.

As is standard with Italian erotica, there is a definite misogynist element. Women are taken advantage of at every turn, and most of the cheesier male fantasies make an appearance at some time.

Watching Brass`s work, I`m reminded of American exploitation-meister Russ Meyer, only with a bum obsession rather than a boob obsession; and less off-the-wall characters.

Video

Shot on film in the European standard 1.66:1, the film is reproduced here in masked down, non-anamorphic 4:3. For a film produced in 2003, the image shows more wear and tear than it should. The image is very colourful, but shot in a way that looks dated.

Audio

Sound is in Dolby Digital 2.0, with all the voices dubbed in magnificently cheesy American voices. I may be seeing a joke that isn`t there, because the intention may not have been ironic, as all of Brass`s movies sound like this.

Features

There are about thirty minutes of extras on the disc - a trailer, a "promotional film" (effectively another trailer), a "behind the scenes" that shows Brass in action, and a 48-picture photogallery. There are no subtitles.

Conclusion

You could read this as a postmodern romp in the style of the old Eurosmut movies, but I think you`d be reading more into it than it deserves. I suspect Tinto Brass is an old dog who has no intention of learning any new tricks and has simply made a brand new old movie.