(aka "Trasgredire' or Transgressing (English onscreen title)" or "Cheeky" or "Carla, bella y puttana" or "Playboys" )

 

directed by Tinto Brass
Italy/UK 2000

The title is presented in reference guides as TRA(SGRE)DIRE and in the film itself with the middle four letters smaller than the rest of the title. The verb "Trasgredire" translates from Italian as "to transgress" while the verb "Tradire" (minus the "sgre") translates as "to betray."

 

More of the same Tinto Brass soft-porn, but slightly more polished than "Frivolous Lola". There is more nudity and the young ladies are even prettier. Lots of close-ups of body parts, plenty of 'up-skirt' and suggestive scenarios. Two positives - this is not disguising itself as anything more than it is... and its candor is refreshing, secondly Brass seems to be improving as a director. In this one, extensively long-legged, young Carla (Yuliya Mayarchuk) has just moved to London. Parading herself around town we immediately see, not only a woman with unflinching teasing on her brain, but the whole community around her is indulging in sexual activity! Her grand entrance to the city is nothing short of a public striptease. She misses her lover Matteo (Jarno Berardi) and waits for him to come from Venice and join her. Carla spends her days searching for an apartment for the two to co-habit. It seems that she cannot avoid creating a boiling pot of lust in every location she crosses, but her loyalty to Matteo keeps her from going the next step. I guess if you are going to watch one of these - this might be the best to qualify as typical Tinto Brass as it has all his trademark regularities. out of  

Gary W. Tooze

 

***

Venetian tease Carla (Yuliya Mayarchuk) has been working in London and is looking for a flat to share with her boyfriend Matteo (Jarno Berardi) a student soon to arrive from Italy. Carla makes the acquaintance of amorous lesbian real estate agent Moira (Francesca Nunzi, the intellectual prostitute of Brass' FRIVOLOUS LOLA) and takes all of the groping in stride but can she stay faithful to Matteo amidst all of the temptation put in her path by Moira and her ex-husband Mario (Max Parodi, respectively the cuckolded fiancé and husband of Brass' sexual free spirits in FRIVOLOUS LOLA and MONAMOUR)?

In some ways a loose remake of Brass' COSI' FAN TUTTE/ALL LADIES DO IT (1988, wittily scripted by Fellini collaborator Bernardino Zapponi) and featuring another buoyant and infectious Pino Donaggio score, TRA(sgre)IRE is unapologetically brainless but enjoyable, explicit without being vulgar, guilt-free, light-hearted erotica. The British and Venetian exteriors (and the shot in Venice interiors) are full of vibrant color in the decor and the lighting of cinematographer Massimo De Venanzo (FRIVOLOUS LOLA).

Eric Cotenas

Posters

Theatrical Release: 28 January 2000

Reviews    More Reviews  DVD Reviews

DVD Comparison:

Cult Epics (Unrated Uncensored Italian Version) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. CVC - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas and Gary Tooze for the Screen Caps!

(Cult Epics (Unrated Uncensored Italian Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. CVC - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Distribution

Cult Epics

Region 1 - NTSC

CVC
Region 2 - PAL
Runtime 1:26:36 1:26:42 (4% PAL speedup)
Video

1.75:1 Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 5.9 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1.73:1 Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 6.10 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

 

Cult Epics (Unrated Uncensored Italian Version)

 

Bitrate:

 

CVC

 

Audio Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo)

Italian (Dolby Digital 5.1); English (Dolby Digital 5.1)

Subtitles English, none none
Features Release Information:
Studio: Cult Epics

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.75:1

Edition Details:
• Backstage (8:18)
• Photo Gallery
• Trailer (3:21)
• PRIVATE/Fallo trailer (1:04)
• FRIVOLOUS LOLA/Monella trailer (2:11)
• ALL LADIES DO IT/Cosi' Fan Tutte (3:15)
• MIRANDA trailer (2:52)
• THE KEY/La Chiave trailer (2:58)

DVD Release Date: May 30th, 2006
Amaray

Chapters 12

Release Information:
Studio: CVC

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.73:1

Edition Details:
• Trailer (3:21)
• Backstage (8:18)
• Filmography

 

DVD Release Date:
Amaray

Chapters 12

 

Comments:

Both discs are cropped to 1.73:1 from the original 1.66:1 (a common transfer fault with some otherwise great Tinto Brass releases including THE VOYEUR and BLACK ANGEL [SENSO 45]). The Italian disc has both the Italian and English tracks in 5.1 (CVC's packaging claims the English track is stereo but it is indeed 5.1) while the Cult Epics release presents the Italian track with English subtitles on the uncensored version and the English track on the shorter producer's cut HERE. I'm pretty sure Cult Epics uses the same transfer as CVC. Although there are some PAL-NTSC artifacts here and there, the image is quite attractive and the subtitles make it a worthy purchase. The English track is hilarious but the English subtitles reveal some changes made to the dialogue in the dubbing. For instance, when Carla first speaks to Moira in halting English on the Italian track, Moira asks (in Italian) if she's Italian and mentions that her ex-husband speaks English like Carla. Since everyone is dubbed in perfect English on the English track, Moira instead asks if Carla has allergies. When Carla asks why, Moira's awkwardly dubbed reply is replies "It's obvious going around wearing panties does bother you."

*Although the Cult Epics' uncensored Italian version and Producer's cut are promoted with the English title CHEEKY (as is the UK disc of the English version), the onscreen title on the producer's cut's English credits is TRANSGRESSING.

 - Eric Cotenas



DVD Menus
(Cult Epics (Unrated Uncensored Italian Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. CVC - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)


 

 

 


 

Screen Captures

(Cult Epics (Unrated Uncensored Italian Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. CVC - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
subtitle sample (no subs on Italian disc)

 

 


(Cult Epics (Unrated Uncensored Italian Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. CVC - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)

 

 


(Cult Epics (Unrated Uncensored Italian Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. CVC - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)

 

 


(Cult Epics (Unrated Uncensored Italian Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. CVC - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)

 

 


(Cult Epics (Unrated Uncensored Italian Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. CVC - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)

 

 

 


(Cult Epics (Unrated Uncensored Italian Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. CVC - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)

 


(Cult Epics (Unrated Uncensored Italian Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. CVC - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)


 

Report Card:

 

Image:

Draw (CVC for PAL image)/Cult Epics (for subtitling despite PAL-NTSC issues)

Sound:

CVC

Extras: Cult Epics (for subtitling)
Menu: CVC

 
DVD Box Covers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Distribution

Cult Epics

Region 1 - NTSC

CVC
Region 2 - PAL

 





 

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