The Key

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Federico T Adapted from the Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's novel, this is the first Tinto Brass directed movie we can call strictly erotic, from which the italian maestro decides to abandon his previous primarily historical genre (where sexuality was only a telling tool and not the subject) to shift towards the direct analysis of sexual relations in and of themselves. Set in Brass' home city of Venice at the end of fascism 'age of mass consent' (just prior to the italian declaration of war of 10 june 1940), it's a movie that treats about irrevocable irremediable decisions that break the tie marking a dramatic shift with its unavoidable load of fatal consequences. So we have the plan of this erudite aesthete who, become disillusioned with the possibilities of contentment through academic confered culture and sensing the approach of his own life's curtain call, chooses, as a sort of euthanasia, to turn his back to a barbarized bleak society blindly and mutely subservient to the fascist regime, searching a final life reason appeasing his sexual libido and, for the pursuit of that, he deliberately kicks off his wife's disinhibition. In that context, the woman's transformation (or liberation) takes the connotations of an uncontrollable deadly weapon that, finding her own independent dimension of self-satisfaction, ends with going beyond the husband's plan, escaping that by causing, with a feeble egoistic cruelty (in the pursuit of her own masterplan), his ridicule and his death, but also the precocious failure of her daughter's engagement with the sly Laszlo. The parallel between the two women, mother and daughter, is an interesting movie sub-theme, as the emancipated voluptuous mother wins over the frigid fascist-vulgarised daughter because that coincides in what is ideal in Brass' philosophy: to the daughter will be neglected satisfaction till her own sexual self awareness and liberation from morality. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/23/23 Full Review william d I'm a fan of Tinto Brass' movies, but I thought this one was kind of boring. Stefania Sandrelli is nice to look at though. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Awful and unwatchable. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member This was a pretty good erotic drama from Tinto Brass. I liked Caligula and Salon Kitty better, but this has some good points. Like the beautiful Stefania Sandrelli. Some of Frank Finlay's jealous outbursts are kind of funny and over the top. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Not the best from Tinto Brass, but still semi-enjoyable due to ample doses of the Brass special nudity. A woman starts to cheat on her husband because he can't fulfill her so she starts to make it with everyone. The World War II setting is a nice touch to a pretty mundane sex flick. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Very good photography in grey scale. I loved the way she was dressed more than she was undressed. Intriguing. The metaphore on resistance against fascism was very interesting. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Key

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