Transgressing

This flick is a trademark of Brass' films: lots of crotch shots, voyeurism and posterior views of women's rears.

The story starts out about a girl, Carla, who is in London looking for a flat. She gets a break when the realtor is a lesbian and makes sexual advances. Carla's boyfriend, Matteo, gets jealous as he senses his woman is being unfaithful.

This movie has the same plot as "All the Ladies Do It." Nothing original is here, especially the ending when it seems the director says it's okay for a woman to cheat on her man. Oh brother.

All in all, if you like Brass' style of erotic cinema, you'll like Monella 2.

This movie was pretty shocking at first, but shortly became just ridiculous, it was filled with silly scenes, and no real plot, lots of genitalia even more than derrière. If you are looking for a titillating, plot less, sex-filled, gratification centered, Italian dud...this would be my pick. I suppose it would have helped to know that subtitles weren't available on this film, but after a few minutes one understands that no subtitles are necessary, as it is easy to figure out, without them. Good to watch if you are enticed by lipstick lesbian love, and Italian horny boys and girls doing it. Great eye candy, and masturbation material/sex material. It was visually and physically exciting, but mentally void of anything worthwhile.

Some films are simply about the appeal of one character. That's all that matters.

There seem to be two types: those that depend on the charm of attractive women, and those that have to work some other engagement. Often that's the acting challenge.

I'm thinking in particular of Audrey Hepburn and "Funny Face." The story and all else is there only to showcase the woman; She is only there for us and we for her. Soft porn should be the place we see much of this, simply because it affords a wider set of seductive options. But it just isn't so. I think there are several reasons for this. When a film is marketed as smut, expectations aren't very high and what you usually get is something that is measured as less than "the real thing."

Tinto Brass, in some of his later films tries to make something genuinely seductive I think, something that is itself. And he has a good eye, a good cinematic sense. Unfortunately for me, what he thinks is seductive in terms of body types doesn't score. Its a cultural thing.

But what he aims for is casual intimacy, the type of casualness that isn't deliberately seductive, but the center of being of the woman. So when you see the nude actress, it is more likely to be her lounging around the house. Its a study in a woman.

A second reason you see this so little is, well, there are few women on screen who can charm like say Audrey Hepburn. The ones that can act go to a different market. The ones who can't end up in the higher paying "adult industry." So it must be quite a challenge for Brass to find a woman sufficiently natural in a sexual appeal to built a film around.

The story in this case if you don't know it is that he found this woman as a waitress in a pizza place and charmed her into the role. She IS successful at being what he needs, apparently because its what she really is. So in a way, its a documentary, if you subtract out the story, which you'll do even if you aren't interested in the process.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

tinto brass has made another of his cardboard copy comedies, with plenty of shots of the rump, and eccentric morality...

cheeky follows the exploits of a young woman travelling to London, and dealing with the jealousy of her boyfriend... as she seems to put up a very weak resistance to all advances, perhaps his response is justified... however, brass has a moral to the story, and when the young man learns his lesson, he realises HE was at fault the whole time... his lover was just keeping the spark alive in icy old england!... watch the interview with brass on the DVD and all will make sense... sort of... well not really...

basically, i think that the erotic genre is a place fraught with danger... move too slowly, and it becomes dull... too excessive, and it becomes... well, very stupid (or vulgar)... cheeky definitely flits over the line a few times, but i'll forgive it, because despite all the borderline perversion threatening to creep in (flashers, raincoat voyeurs, and old, seedy men), it's basically a harmless bit of fluff that is almost charming and innocent in its simplicity...

what's more, brass brings a richness of colour and imagery seldom seen in the soft-core arena... and frankly, that's mostly what it's all about... i've never seen a cheap, soft porn movie that looks as good as this film does...

brass has definitely upped the explicit side of things, stopping short of the unsimulated act, but focusing far more on genitalia and intrusion... personally, i prefer a little rawness, but some may find it a little too crass...

the dubbing is an absolute crime against humanity... it is hilarious to hear the bad English accents in place of the usual silly 50's American drawl, however....

this is an extremely slight movie, with highly unsophisticated comedy (in fact, much of the movie is simply our lead actress prancing around naked)... however, this does beat an 80's movie featuring some guy with a square haircut rubbing himself against a girl with a big perm... watch it with low expectations, and it may be a bit of fun... otherwise, avoid it like English pizza...

Bright, cheery, pretty and very sexy with super outfits lots of nudity including many a very real looking prosthetic penis. There may be some silly seriousness here with the Italian title being a play on words with transgression and betrayal and references within the film suggesting female unfaithfulness is a good quality. All very well I suppose if you are big fat and rich with a penchant for watching your girl with someone else, eh Mr Brass? Nevertheless I loved it and it's settings of Venice and London although actually in reality this seemed all shot on a set apart from outdoor scenes in a London park. Well paced, well shot and surprisingly well dubbed. The Ukrainian leading lady a sheer delight although if we are talking bottoms here, and we are for a lot of the film, I would not have thought hers her best asset. Probably the best of Tinto Brass's such outings.