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Senso '45 More at IMDbPro »
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| Index | 11 reviews in total |
15 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
Beautiful.... Dark.... Haunting.... Exquisite...., 26 August 2005
Author:
emlodik (emlodik@yahoo.com) from Denver, Colorado
After years of shooting wacky erotic comedies, Tinto Brass has finally
made a "serious" film, seemingly ending his hiatus with the mainstream
film genre, or so it seems. (Read my review of 2003's appalling
"Fallo!" for more information.) Aside from a very explicit sequence at
a cocaine orgy, "Senso '45" is Brass' most mainstream film to date. The
camera-work and acting are all heavily rehearsed and stylized, there's
no "free flowing" feel of Il Maestro's earlier films, but I wouldn't
say it is a bad thing. The script is masterfully written to give a
disorienting feel with numerous flashbacks and flash forwards. It is
also worthy of note how the it is the present that is shot in black &
white, while the sequences taking place in the past are in color. The
actors, especially Anna Galiena, are all giving 200% of their talents
and Brass' regular cast members (be it a major supporting role or a
short cameo) don't disappoint either. I also must disagree with the
previous reviewer. Gabriel Garko is cast perfectly as the conniving
Nazi Officer and gave me shivers each time he opened his mouth.
Even though te story has been relocated to 1945, the film is more
faithful to Boito's original novella than one might think and I also
saw some shades of Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina." What I really loved about
Brass' script is that it keeps its ambiguity until the end. Like Livia,
we can't be sure whether Helmut really loves loves or her financial
status until the very end and by then it is far too late to change
anything and we understand Livia's final decision and even root for
her.
How can anyone not like this film? The music, the direction, the
acting, the script... Everything is perfect. We see betrayal after
betrayal. The lies build up on one another throughout the film and in
the end it all comes crashing down in an unforgettable finale. I found
the story truly mesmerizing. A woman willfully abandons safety of her
estate, travels through ruins and piles of corpses to visit the man she
loves, the only true love of her life, to whom she has given everything
she had, but in the end is slapped across the face with harsh reality.
In Visconti's 1954 version, that scene was disturbing. Here, it is
heart breaking.
Do yourself a huge favour and see this wonderful masterpiece. It will
haunt you for days and the ending will make ponder your own values and
beliefs for months to come.
13 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Sex Drama in typical Brass Style, 25 December 2002
Author:
Stefan Kahrs from Canterbury, England
The marketing for this film refers to Tinto Brass's much earlier works,
The
Key, and Salon Kitty. Although Brass made many films since, this referral
is entirely appropriate, as the style of Senso '45 is very much inspired
by
(if not derived from) these pictures, especially The Key. For the
uninitiated: this is soft pornography of the classy kind.
As in both of these films, Brass sets the story during WWII. As in The
Key,
we have as central character a woman well past her twenties (in this case
even well past her thirties) who explores her sexuality. Her lover is a
blond SS officer, whose mannerisms recall the character played by Helmut
Berger in Salon Kitty. Slightly unusual for Brass is to move from comedic
to dramatic territory, but this shift proved useful when it came to
depicting the dark and obsessive side of the central relationship.
The casting of Anna Galiena was excellent, and not just regarding her
acting
abilities. On the one hand, there is no credibility-stretching age gap
between her and her husband (as there was between Sandrelli and Finlay in
The Key). On the other, she looks fantastic for her age, even in the
nude,
and thus the sexual chemistry between Livia and Helmut appears quite real,
despite the 20 year age gap between Galiena and Garko. Still, Gabriel
Garko's SS officer leaves something to be desired, most simply put: his
hair
colour does. Garko's hair had been dyed straw blond, but he does not look
like a blond man at all. Perhaps Italians do not have an eye for this,
or,
more likely, it was too late to change casting and Brass insisted on a
blond
SS man for this leading part, so he went ahead regardless. This bit of
sacrificed realism is certainly at odds with the drama.
5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Springtime for Tinto, 21 May 2008
Author:
clivey6 from London, England
A film by Tinto Brass, the purveyer of 70s-style soft porn, all
stockings and suspenders, swaying boobs, bent over as$es. It belongs to
another era, before video and DVD, before the freeze frame and the
chapter selection. You'd have to sit and watch the titillation unfold,
unable to speed things up or cut to the action.
That said, the women are far removed from the hard, anonymous, blonde
Croydon-facelifts of hardcore, they have a bit of va-va-vooom! Some of
the couplings did put me in mind of the school librarian being chatted
by the hopeful deputy head, it's that sort of world.
This film is set in Venice in the dying months of the Second World War.
It has an enjoyable European sensibility that is refreshing and some of
the photography of wartime Venice is lovely, especially the dawn shots,
which are often used to great effect in war films, the only respite
from human cruelty and betrayal, a vivid stripping back to essentials.
The story is about an aristocratic woman (Anna Galiena, very good)
falling for a young blond brute of a Nazi, cheating on her husband.
It's all very straightforward. Generally you'd think you couldn't go
wrong with a classy sex orgy featuring Nazi uniforms, cocaine and blow
jobs, but thanks to the composer - Ennio Morricone no less - using
oboes and trumpets to fashion a comical, inquisitive little tune better
suited to the playout credits of Miss Marple Investigates on Sunday
afternoon, they manage to...
I can't officially recommend it - it's kind of rubbish really - but it
has something going for it, you can see where Paul Verhoven got his
inspiration for Black Books, and it's all a bit Allo Allo without the
laughs (which some may prefer, of course).
7 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
An erotic masterpiece..., 21 August 2008
Author:
Labia_Mirage from Deutschland
I was quite amazed by this passionate, old-fashioned style tragic romance. The costumes, the cinematography, Ennio Morricone's sweeping score, all come together to create an absolute classic of it's genre. Anna Galiena and Gabriel Garko are beautiful together as doomed lovers that find each other in the desperate, waning days of the second World War. Helmut Schulz, played by the impossibly sensual Garko, is a sleazy and corrupt young SS officer, addicted to gambling, women, and to other of life's excesses. His decadent lifestyle does not come cheap, and when the beautiful but lonely Livia, (in an amazingly elegant performance by the wonderful Anna Galiena) offers to financially support Helmut, the amoral man does not refuse. Director Tinto Brass photographs the present day in glorious black and white, while we see, in blazing color the erotic love affair as it unfolded, in a series of flashbacks described by Livia, while en route to Venice. "Senso 45/Black Angel" is Tinto Brass' most serious work. It seems like he wanted to create something impressive here, and he did just that. A much more accomplished film than his "Salon Kitty." Effectively capturing the decadence of Fascist Italy, 1945 in a dizzying orgy scene, filled with graphic and strange sexuality and drug taking, a trademark of Tinto Brass, and unforgettable images of Anna and her SS lover in desperate embraces in shadowy back alleys or sparse rooms, with rays of sunlight filtering through lace curtains. It is hard to describe the beauty and elegance of this film. For fans of erotic romance, and films that possess this specifically European style of film making, this intoxicating art-house film is certain to impress. As of yet "Black Angel" has not had a DVD release for North America, but there is a wonderful edition from the UK that offers an uncensored, widescreen version, in original Italian with English subtitles.
13 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
What Else Could I Expect From Tinto Brass?, 6 March 2005
Author:
Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
In 1945, while traveling with her lawyer Ugo Oggiano (Franco
Branciaroli), who is in love with her, the wealthy forty-one years old
Livia Mazzoni (Anna Galiena) recalls her affair with her lover, the
German officer Helmut Schultz (Gabriel Garko). Livia is married with
the producer Carlo (Antonio Salines), who is twenty-eight years older
than she. The sex in their marriage is totally unsatisfactory to Livia.
When Livia meets the Helmut, who is also a smuggler addicted in
gambling, she feels passion, desire and lust for him, becoming his sex
slave, and financially supporting him in the gamble. Later, when she
meets him in Venice, dirty secrets about their relationship are
disclosed. "Senso '45" has a good story, the cast has a great
performance, the photography is beautiful, but I did not like this
film. There are too much exposures of the naked actors and actresses,
many ridiculous situations, like for example, the party in the brothel,
and every situation is a motive for a sex scene. What else could I
expect from Tinto Brass? This sick director, who became famous with
Caligola, makes this type of soft porn movie only, and I was aware of
that. "Senso '45" is only recommended for fans of this director. My
vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "Luxúria" ("Lust")
2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
About Franco Branciaroli (here,in a supporting part), 15 July 2008
Author:
Cristi_Ciopron from CGSM, Soseaua Nationala 49
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
This man with lascivious ,nasty traits and libidinous habits (on
screen, at least) is a cult—actor—and one of the luckiest, either—he
was the man designated by Brass to hug, fondle, embrace, touch those
marvelous Brass femmes fatals—in LA CHIAVE, MIRANDA, Senso '45—some of
these are mythical movies ;he made a considerable gallery of men who
are never no. 1, nor Des premiers, but who nonetheless manage to have a
lot—by cunning, chance or by simply being there. His role in LA CHIAVE
is perhaps the most sophisticated; in SENSO '45 he is a libidinous,
sleazy oldster, in MIRANDA an avid redneck …. MIRANDA is a Goldonian
spoof, a fabulous Goldonian parody, and Brass' intentions are obvious
beginning with the place that Branciarolli's character gets in the
script. Brass never pretended that his fetish hardcore (to a certain
degree) actor is a handsome man, or the first choice of a woman—in LA
CHIAVE, he is the much younger son—in-law and he becomes a caprice and
sexual toy of his bored ,boiled by desires sexually authoritarian and
emancipated mother—in—law; in SENSO '45 he is an oldie confident that
craves for some sexual attentions …;in MIRANDA he is hillbilly that is
accepted in Mme. Grandi's bed only after all the more interesting
sexual adventures have been consummated almost under his envious
,jealous eyes. Branciarolii is,in Brass' movies, never the one who
conquers or wins, but the one who is conquered or let, permitted to win
….
SENSO … is THE KEY turned upside down; the mature woman, humiliated,
used for else than her body, despised. The pagan celebration of earthly
love turned into a farce. It's very sentimental, because Brass intended
to underline his compassion for Livia Mazzoni. Brass is a feminist
director; his movies celebrate the women, usually the men are the
women's victims and Brass takes delight in that. Brass ' movies are a
celebration of the earthly, vigorous, egoist women. There might be
about love in THE VOYEUR—only perhaps—and in SENSO …; I do not know if
the notion of love ,of sentimental love is ever targeted by Brass.
And yes,it is a fairly fancy game imagining various women as actresses
in Brass' movies.
2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
BLACK ANGEL (Tinto Brass, 2002) **1/2, 6 May 2008
Author:
MARIO GAUCI (marrod@melita.com) from Naxxar, Malta
This is my fifth excursion in Tinto Brass territory but only the third
from his (mostly) softcore entries for which he became notorious.
Having seen the man in the flesh at the midnight screening of his rare
pop-art thriller DEADLY SWEET (1967) during the 61st Venice Film
Festival in 2004, he seemed more like a reasonably literate and
genuinely larger-than-life character perennially chomping on his cigar
than a dirty old man who occasionally realizes his erotic fantasies on
film.
Although the majority of his later films were modest exploitation stuff
at best, sometimes he did seek to be taken more seriously by breaking
into the mainstream and even art-house circles. The Nazisploitation
epic SALON KITTY (1975) was the first of such attempts, the
misconceived debacle CALIGULA (1979) was the most infamous with THE KEY
(1983) being perhaps the most successful of the lot. Unfortunately,
Blue Underground's 2-Disc Set of SALON KITTY has been out-of-print for
some time but I do have THE KEY on VHS recorded off Italian TV.
BLACK ANGEL, then, is Tinto Brass' latest bid for respectability. Based
on the same source novel from which Luchino Visconti made an acclaimed
movie in 1954, Brass transposes the action to the last days of WWII
and, true to his nature, has the promiscuous characters indulge
wholeheartedly (and explicitly, including some hardcore footage) in
every sin of the flesh he can point his camera at for two hours. The
major set-piece of the film is a marathon 10-minute orgy sequence which
includes most of the offending footage but also quaint, risible stuff
like a group of revelers marching in tow through the rooms of a château
led by a naked woman proudly holding onto a huge, gold-plated phallus!
For what it's worth, the plot deals with a young, blond, womanizing
Nazi officer (Gabriel Garko) who sets his sights on a much older
Italian aristocrat (Anna Galiena) who is only to keen to satisfy his
every whim. Naturally, he is reluctant to cut down on his vices (which
also include gambling) and far from happy with her overly jealous
demeanor; after surprising him in bed with a much younger girl, the
Italian woman eventually takes belated revenge by betraying him to his
commanding officers regarding his plans for desertion.
While the film as a whole is not too badly done in itself and features
an Ennio Morricone score to boot, nothing especially memorable happens
in it and one is hard pressed to feel sympathy for these lewd,
unlikable and opportunistic characters and, consequently, the viewer's
interest in the proceedings rises and sags accordingly.
2 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Europa's Butt, 4 January 2011
Author:
tedg (tedg@FilmsFolded.com) from Virginia Beach
Franco and Brass, even Argento matter to me. They have intuition that
inspires. Yes, they make vulgar and sometimes nonsensical films. But
that is just a matter of degree compared to Hollywood fare, right?
What I like about Brass isn't about the women or situations, but how he
chooses to frame and light the photographs. This is related to women's
fashion magazines, where we know the models are insipid beings, and the
clothes bordering on the ridiculous. They simply provide a narrative
vocabulary for the artist to explore and exploit.
Brass does well sometimes, but he falls into a crevice when he relies
on Nazi images in the context of sex. Here he reaches too far in trying
to make something like "The Garden of the Finzi-Continis" with the tone
of "Europa." The film here clearly reaches to an analogy of Italy as a
fading sexual beauty, confused in her passions and easily seduced by
fascism. This could pay off, but the filmmaker himself is seduced into
making a different film — one he instinctively knows.
There is a war between the film he can make and the film he wants to,
but alas this war is not interesting. Nor is the woman or the Italy she
represents.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with
this part of your life.
0 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Brass' story of lust in Venice, 27 May 2006
Author:
maatmouse-1 from United Kingdom
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
To start with, I am not a big fan of the Tinto Brass style of films.
Many often contain rather stagey sex scenes and there is often a lack
of warmth about that. Black Angel or Senso '45 is different. It is the
story of a wealthy wife in her older years who is attracted to and
falls in lust (can't really call it love) with an SS Officer, pays for
his vices of gambling, drinking, smoking and keeping a private room and
is then rejected after returning from exile to find him in bed with
another lover or girlfriend. Livia takes revenge against Schultz for
his rejection by informing on him and his plans to desert.
Anna Galiena is a likable and ideal choice for this movie. She is not
young but she is beautiful and she gives a very believable portrayal of
a rich woman who finds her husband a bit of a bore but wouldn't leave
him in a million years.
1 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Frozen time, 23 February 2007
Author:
Vincentiu from Romania
Important for definition of this movie is its special flavor. Memories
of another films and the taste of a lost age. Symbols of a nostalgic
ambiguity and the forms of chimeric images.
It is not a good film. It is not a bad or boring movie. Anatomy of a
relation between a Bovaric lady and a gorgeous young officer, story of
love and revenge, escape and cruel punishment, "Senso '45" is a
delicate cinematographic puzzle .
At first view is a film of "70. Same atmosphere, same acting and
gestures.
The androgynous Gabriel Garko is new Helmuth Berger and the drops of
Visconti's art are omnipresent. A game, without any mystery but nice
for the images of a splendid youth- that is the recipe of this film.
Old ingredients and same cook. But the charm is not result of
convention or reaction of politeness. To see this film is contemplation
of frozen time. A not original film, monument of clichés, scene for all
important influences of century, beautiful lie and shadow of a evening.
A common sign of a lost hour.
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