"Fallo" is simultaneously the imperative of the verb "fare" (to do), the infraction of a rule, and the name of the male sexual organ (phallus). In reality, the movie is first and foremost the affirmation of female sovereignty in the sense that if the man holds the biological symbol of power, the woman is the one that has her hands not only on the symbol, but on the power itself."

- Tinto Brass

As in Cult Epic's DVD of Cheeky, Tinto Brass appears in a making-of featurette for Private (Fallo!), and opines on the meaning of the title, proving once again he's a grossly misunderstood master of psychological erotica who happens to like the curves, the texture, the refractive sheen, suppleness, muscular tone, and mysterious energy that lies in between the two halves of the female posterior - haunting curvatures of want that symbolizes the inseparable relationship between man and woman, and the mystical attraction of time immemorial that separates the human species from lower mammals as noble creatures full of spirit, and deeds most admirable.

Or maybe Tinto just likes the popo a heck of a lot.

Private is Brass in an exceptionally silly mood, and while his titular clarification mostly holds true - the film's men are frequently left holding their 'power' until the women give their blessings - the six stories are softcore vignettes augmented by tongue-in-cheek dialogue, and couples seeking mutual satisfaction. The lone exception is the second story, which has the better halves of two couples cheating on their partners, and an actress proving her versatility with a more fleshy studio microphone in a scene that's likely missing from the rated producer's cut (also available separately from Cult Epics). It's a straightforward moment of on-camera fellatio, while the remaining stories have implied fellatio and cunningulus.

That isn't to say Private is tame without the audition scene, as Brass makes sure each vignette delivers the same manic-obsessive shots of densely forested regions, and the usual groping, poking, and sampling of elements pleasing to delta fetishists.

When nudity and specific fixations of the body are omnipresent in a film, there's a level of desensitization that occurs within most viewers, and what manages to shock as we progress through each vignette is the intricate mis-en-scene Brass employs in rendering every shot and edit as interconnected motifs in his ongoing filmic orgy. The wrought-iron bed has the deliberate curves of the backside, the quasi Art Nouveau decor shapes the doors and windows like fattened phalluses, and distant background objects often yield things like a percolating lava lamp proudly saluting the boffing couple in a burning red room.

The most insane example occurs during a slide presentation. One of the men walks away from the projector, leaving a pyramidal white table supporting the flicking phallic projector. Two women enter, with the guest seating herself on the couch. As her legs kick up in a triangle, it's clear the two chairs flanking the lower 1.85:1 frame are symbolic legs, the couch is the centre, the bottom-tied pink drapes covering the two windows infer breasts, and the central shadow of a table lamp is another phallic symbol. After the lights are turned on, Brass holds on a projected slide of a group of men around the bare-bottomed wife, and we see a phallic champagne bottle gleaming below the projector. As the husband pulls his hand away from the projector's off switch, Brass cuts to a closer shot of the female guest, spread out in widescreen.

Like Cheeky, Brass is working within a limited budget, but it's grudgingly to his credit that he knows how to pre-plan his film and give each scene production value and thematic power by carefully organizing his set decoration and frame compositions. Private's camera moves are more fluid and competent than some of the awkward shots and tight framing in Cheeky, and like Frivolous Lola, Brass over-stylizes the use of primary and pastel colours: an opening breakfast scene between a couple celebrating their seventh wedding anniversary has them wearing white, primary blue walls and furniture dominate the room, and the couple drink brilliant glasses of a presumably special kind of Moroccan-red OJ. (The film's end credits list a broad range of countries where the film was shot, but the sets are redressed variations, making one believe Brass was mixing fact with old-style, carny fakery to mask a production shot entirely in an Italian soundstage.)

Brass' taste for burlesque jazz also comes into play throughout the film, and we know Private is a silly piece of erotic fluff because he repeats a series of nutty yodels in the film's third story, where a German dominatrix and her collared hubbie settle into a room in the Swiss Alps. The director also maintains his motif of cigar chomping & puffing women (maybe another allusion to the female clenching of male power, or the 'ol women-smoking fetish), and he pops up in an appropriate cameo with his smoldering stogie.

Cult Epic's transfer is crisp and clean, and comes with a standard stereo mix for the Italian dubbed soundtrack (with sporadic French and bits of English dialogue). The extras include still galleries of rated and unrated snapshots, and a making-of featurette that's basically an overlong montage of behind-the scenes popos, and some occasional comments from Brass and main actresses talking about their characters, while the same grating French language ditty is looped for much of the program. There's also an inlay card of the film's alternate poster, oddly recalling the basic geometric & graphic design of the original Saturn 3 (!) campaign, and a gallery of trailers for Cult Epic's swelling catalogue of Brassian titles.

Other Tinto Brass releases from Cult Epics include Deadly Sweet / Col cuore in gola (1967), Attraction / The Artful Penetration of Barbara / Nerosubianco (1969), Howl, The / L’hurlo (1970),  The Key / La Chiave (1983), Miranda (1985), All Ladies Do It / Così fan tutte (1992), Voyeur, The / L'Uomo che guarda (1994), Frivolous Lola (1998), Cheeky / Trasgredire (2000), and Private / Fallo! (2003).

© 2006 Mark R. Hasan