far to be original, adaptation of a classic Italian novel, Senso "45 is special. not surprising, not good, not touching. only strange. first, for the slices of memories about the universe of Luchino Visconti.or Pasolini. the second - for the great chemistry between the two lead characters. and, not the least, for the music of Ennio Moriccone. the darkness, the high sensuality, the decadence , the meets between the powerful woman and her vulnerable, vulgar lover are motifs for see a film who could be useful trip in the heart of different zones of cinema. the magnetism of irresistible Gabriel Garko, the science of Anna Galiena to do a complex work for explore each nuance of her role. one of films who reflects a state. in smart manner. and, in many scenes, courageous.

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.

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.

Brass pictures (movies is not a fitting word for them) really are somewhat brassy. Their alluring visual qualities are reminiscent of expensive high class TV commercials. But unfortunately Brass pictures are feature films with the pretense of wanting to entertain viewers for over two hours! In this they fail miserably, their undeniable, but rather soft and flabby than steamy, erotic qualities non withstanding.Senso '45 is a remake of a film by Luchino Visconti with the same title and Alida Valli and Farley Granger in the lead. The original tells a story of senseless love and lust in and around Venice during the Italian wars of independence. Brass moved the action from the 19th into the 20th century, 1945 to be exact, so there are Mussolini murals, men in black shirts, German uniforms or the tattered garb of the partisans. But it is just window dressing, the historic context is completely negligible.Anna Galiena plays the attractive aristocratic woman who falls for the amoral SS guy who always puts on too much lipstick. She is an attractive, versatile, well trained Italian actress and clearly above the material. Her wide range of facial expressions (signalling boredom, loathing, delight, fear, hate ... and ecstasy) are the best reason to watch this picture and worth two stars. She endures this basically trashy stuff with an astonishing amount of dignity. I wish some really good parts come along for her. She really deserves it.