Review by Mick Lamarr
By: Mick Lamarr
One of my favorite Tinto Brass movies, it happens to be for sure one of his most successful ever! Here's now a 116 minutes uncut Blue Ray with a splendid restoration work from the original film's vaults, colorful, lavish, always sexy, and, as erotic ...
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One of my favorite Tinto Brass movies, it happens to be for sure one of his most successful ever! Here's now a 116 minutes uncut Blue Ray with a splendid restoration work from the original film's vaults, colorful, lavish, always sexy, and, as erotic as only Brass could make film making: a bit art house, a bit highly stylized images and imaginative situations and angles, ultimately, a mix of those sensational, sophisticated comedies in perfect 1930s style mixing wildly with expected or unexpected turns into an unique, always top of the line elegant, erotic story telling that's always handled with an auteur talent, and, believe it or not, with an ironic yet sophisticated eye capable always to make you turn into a voyeur without feeling one, so expressive and radiant to let you believe the most uncomfortable circumstances along with vivid glares, and rapid smiles, most importantly genuinely completely free of any judgement, but realistically depicting and composing, at the end, quite the piece! And, sometime, as it is for Paprika (but, also and even more so for those i would call its own masterpieces "The Key" or "Salon Kitty" and "Caligula", too) to take an audience with candor almost at the edge of a sublimating experience, without ever letting anyone feel involved in the mud of that famous Euro jaded sex exploitation, or other lower sub genres, when, in fact if many tried to imitate his style at times with rewarding box office success, nobody has really ever succeeded though to deliver a motion picture with the same grace and/or intensity, and that same and admired lyrical cinematic language of one unique league.
In our movie "Paprika", conceived after many failed attempts (one was just about to take off in 1980 circa starring Teresa Ann Savoy, Trevor Howard and John Moulder Brown, but despite an amazing International cast and technical crew, finance proved at the end a failure to cover the big budget needed by Brass in order to complete at his own liking a complex period erotic drama) finally in the early 1990's, everything seemed to move as sweeter than sweet, thanks mainly to a simple but clear and extremely clever narrative capable to make of John Cleland's heroine 'Fanny Hill' a believable low class, young Italian citizen named Mimma (gorgeous to look at Deborah Caprioglio) from Trieste, east of Venice, Italy, who is initially badly betrayed by a false, and abusive boyfriend, and, is into a racket that gets her quickly with no other choice to become an almost child prostitute. The film clearly does follow her throughout her own journey and her own version of the story she almost gives herself looking always with hope and joy at a World that seems way more corrupted than prostitution itself (think we are in prude and puritan 1950s Italy) which she is always -at least through her young eyes- capable to look at with irony, and with a quite unique uplifting look at life itself. The now renamed "Paprika" looks more like a young Sophia Loren after a little make over of sort, and, most of all, she always seems to be willing to face a carefree, endless riot of an existence without ever getting embittered, or heart broken, but, actually, at the contrary, Paprika seems to make of herself a very sweet, but skilled, spicy young lady, very much capable to gain her own respect, to stand for her rights, and at the end, as in a fairy tale, also to change her faith for the best, becoming a Countess, with yachts and marvelous Villa on Lake Como, while, always managing to gain social influence, power, money (the original 18 years old heir is put back to his place right away), and, to be even helping some ex colleagues and their lives, now harshly facing the streets after the laws prohibiting brothels in Italy since after 1958, leaving all workers to despair and without a roof on their heads. Now again, what could have become either the same old and trite tale of the poor demonized, young prostitute, or worse just a trip into the mere exploitation of all sex, and morbid curiosity existing around the vulgar aspects of such hard life, Brass, instead, with the help of always exceptional (often Federico Fellini's co-writer, too) screen writer Bernardino Zapponi, opts to tell the story like a wild comedy filled with those great spicy dialogs that truly seems to come from those awesome old fashioned, pre code sophisticated comedies, and, also as the skilled and experienced film's author he is, chooses to leave the narration as linear as possible, when instead pushing the envelope over all the eccentric, and truly lavish visuals, designed with gusto and greatness by Academy award winners art director Bruno Cesari, and by production designer Paolo Biagetti, with the help of the almost surrealistic gowns, wonderfully tailored by fantastic costume designer Jost Jakob, also strongly enhanced with a useful general key visual extravaganza of choice, which is always highly accomplished with the help of a big budgeted International co-production, but, also by the exquisite use of the colorful palette of cinematography by masters Silvano Ippoliti and Massimo Di Venanzo. A movie i highly enjoyed watching again, and that i have appreciated being so well re-presented, and restored to its 2 full hours length. The supporting cast is here also another treat to look for, composed as it is, by some of the most well known cult Euro actors of the time all wonderfully placed, composing a myriad of faces, cameos, and little, if very poignant roles, such as John Steiner, Petra Sharback, Nina Soldano, Luca Lionello, Riccardo Garrone, Valentine Demy, Andrea Aureli, Luigi Laezza, Stephane Bonnet, Stephane Ferrara, Elizabeth Kaza, Deborah Cali, Paul Muller, Martine Brochard, Luciana Cirenei, and, last but not least, Domiziano Arcangeli as 18years old Gualtiero who's brought to celebrate his birthday, in the fabulous looking brothel "Gli Specchi" in Milan, by his father, wealthy, eccentric, and wild Count Bastiano Rosasco (burly Renzo Rinaldi) who later ends up inviting Paprika in high society, and then he finally introduces her to his own family disrupted in disbelief, when he decides to marry her, apparently keeping extremely blasé about the whole scandal. But, this will end up being at once the originally, unique happy ending of the story of a good, gorgeous, young girl who always thankful for what life had presented her with no matter what, and, mainly never ever embittered by the circumstances, would end up crossing the line, and, by famous young prostitute, she'd become famed and respected young blue Italian 'countess'! A true smash at the time of its release, this movie holds its own still very well, with its genius and crazy director, fun and light script, lavish sets, and elegant exterior work, its great technical contributions, "Paprika" manages to successfully and glittering appearing almost as a brand new show, just 25 years after its original release!