Tinto Brass, the Italian filmmaker best known for directing most of the controversial historical drama Caligula, has died at 93. His family announced his death to Italian media on Wednesday, according to Variety.
Brass directed more than two dozen films, including Vacation, which won Best Italian Film at the 1971 Venice Film Festival. His career also included Salon Kitty, a film about a Nazi brothel that combined erotic material with political satire. But Caligula, starring Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren and Peter O’Toole, became his most famous work.
Brass agreed to make Caligula on the condition that it would not be pornographic, and conceived it in part as political satire. During post-production, however, producer Bob Guccione, founder of Penthouse, and filmmaker Giancarlo Lui added hardcore sex scenes. Guccione barred Brass from the editing room and completed the film himself. Brass and screenwriter Gore Vidal both asked to have their names removed.
Born Giovanni Brass in Milan on March 26, 1933, he studied law before entering the film industry. He worked at the Cinémathèque Française and assisted directors Joris Ivens, Federico Fellini and Roberto Rossellini. His directorial debut, Chi Lavora è Perduto, won Best First Work at the Venice Film Festival; a later film, I Am What I Am, won the festival’s Golden Lion.
Brass suffered a suspected cerebral hemorrhage in 2010 and retired from filmmaking. Caligula continued to be revisited after his retirement: a 2007 “Imperial Edition” removed Guccione’s explicit footage, while a 2023 “Ultimate Cut” followed Vidal’s script more closely. Brass said before the latter version premiered at Cannes that he did not expect it to reflect his artistic vision.
Sources: Rolling Stone.