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| Images courtesy of Cult Epics |
Love him or loathe him, the Italian provocateur Tinto Brass
while mostly being known for being affiliated with the infamous Caligula and
Salon Kitty carved out his own niche as a kind of modern-day cross
between Russ Meyer, Walerian Borowczyk or Larry Clark with the life affirming
bawdiness of Pier Paolo Pasolini and Federico Fellini. While most of his films press the camera as
close to the back of a woman’s bare ass or her breasts or her crotch as humanly
possible, plain as day scopophilia with his camera, his films tend to depict
strong willed free loving sexually liberated women living out their lives
happily against jealous men who don’t like their freewheeling agency. Yes Tinto Brass flirts frequently with the
hardcore and at times the camera pressing between his lead actress’ legs to see
her crotch can be a bit much, but somehow or another with his later-tier 1998
film Frivolous Lola, Tinto Brass finds a way to get us to root for the
proceedings. Unlike All Ladies Do It
which seemed to get lost in the mixture of the mechanics of softcore and
hardcore, this one finds firm footing in perhaps the director’s most celebrated
film.
Teenage girl Lola (Anna Ammirati), the daughter of widow
Zaira (Serena Grandi) frolics about in 1950s Po Valley on her bicycle barefoot
with her fat behind in full view for all to see and/or grab without a care in
the world happy and free as can be.
Engaged to a young baker named Masetto (Max Parodi) who strictly
believes in the notion of post-marital sex and soon to get married, Lola grows
increasingly fascinated with sex and tries to persuade her beau to jump into
bed with her before exchanging their vows.
Further still, she spends a lot of time mingling with her libertine stepfather
Andre (Patrick Mower) who encourages her to pursue her heart regardless of what
the rest of society says about it.
Threatening to jeopardize their engagement, Lola’s flirtations with
other men in front of her fiancée to court some jealousy intensify and soon
come to a head.
While again Tinto Brass just wants to stick the camera into
or up a woman’s ass or crotch, including but not limited to Anna Ammirati (in
her screen debut) dripping half naked in the rain crouching down to urinate on
the pavement, Frivolous Lola for all of its tawdriness and in-your-face
carnality winds up being perhaps the director’s most assured and enjoyable
film. A straightforward romantic sex
comedy more or less about a woman finding her limits while courting the
affections of her fiancée against his own trappings, the film is picturesque
and at times a bit idyllic and comically utopian. With characters that are crude but
nevertheless joyous and full of life, the picture reminds of Pier Paolo
Pasolini’s Trilogy of Life which was every bit as bawdy and provocative
as this.
Lensed by Tinto Brass’ recurring cinematographer Massimo Di
Venanzo who also once worked as a camera operator on Federico Fellini’s Amacord
and again scored brilliantly by the legendary Pino Donaggio, Frivolous Lola raunchiness
aside looks and sounds lovely. One
characteristic of this Tinto Brass effort that stands out are the use of
popular needle drops including Gene Vincent’s Be Bop A Lula that might
actually be sexier than its use in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart. Even near the end of the film with Tinto Brass
himself making a cameo as a band conductor at Lola’s eventual wedding, we get
the feeling we’re not watching a film but a concerto and this is Brass’
masterpiece. The cast across the board
is generally good with Patrick Mower and Max Parodi playing brilliantly off of
Ammirati who isn’t that skilled of an actress but brings onscreen a natural
voluptuous physicality the director was looking for.
While unfortunately the film didn’t make much money when it
came out and reports back of Anna Ammirati’s on-set behavior with the other
cast members and the director’s wife didn’t go over so well, in the years since
Frivolous Lola has come to be regarded by many as their favorite possible
Tinto Brass film. Though Brass’
incessant fixation on filming a woman’s backside or between her legs can and
likely will be a dealbreaker for most people, others keen on Brass’ and Cult
Epics’ ongoing efforts to restore and reissue his work in deluxe special
editions with poster-art, lobby cards and an illustrated booklet will be
delighted with this 4K UHD edition. Though
I haven’t fully converted to Brass’ kind of buttcheek cinema, for all intents
and purposes Frivolous Lola worked as a bawdy life affirming sex comedy
that, in the end, is just a rowdy playful romance. Horny, yes, but in the end kind of heartfelt
and sincere.
--Andrew Kotwicki
