Monella - -1998-
Monella isn’t high art, and it doesn’t pretend to be. It’s a sugary, saucy, sun-drenched slice of Italian erotica that knows exactly what it is. If you go in expecting Last Tango in Paris , you’ll be confused. If you go in expecting a sexy, silly, unapologetically European farce about a woman who loves her own desire, you’ll have a great time.
The film is saturated with color, making the Italian landscape look like a living postcard. Monella -1998-
For those who know Brass only through his most famous work, Caligula (1979), Monella offers a radically different flavor. Gone is the nihilistic, brutalist Rome of the Caesars; in its place is the sun-drenched, gossipy, and deeply silly province of 1950s (or timeless) Italy. This is not a film about power and corruption. It is a film about the singular, obsessive, and joyful pursuit of pleasure. Monella isn’t high art, and it doesn’t pretend to be