Tinto Brass didn’t have a great reputation for me back when I merely knew him as the director of Caligula. The film was notorious in the VHS era since it was an X-rated movie starring Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren and Peter O’Toole. The film was interesting to watch, but things seemed off about that massive Roman production produced by the guy who ran Penthouse magazine. Over the last few years, Cult Epics has been releasing Tinto Brass’s films after Caligula and I’ve been in awe of his sensual and erotic cinema. I’ve also learned thanks to the bonus features on the 4K UHD releases that while Tinto Brass directed the main part of Caligula, the producer directed more explicit scenes and edited the whole thing. It’s not even close to the film Tinto Brass envisioned. The good news is that Caligula didn’t wreck Tinto Brass’ filmmaking career. First he made a film called Action. More importantly was the next film The Key. This was Brass’ first where the sensual and erotic was the focus of the action without having to witness violence.
Respected art teacher Nino Rolfe (The Three Musketeers‘ Frank Finlay) is having doubts about his relationship with his younger wife Teresa (Divorce Italian Style‘s Stefania Sandrelli). He just can’t pleasure her right in bed. He keeps a diary about his desires involving her. While it is locked in the desk, he leaves the key out in the open. There seems to be a hope that she’ll unlock the drawer and discover what he’s thinking. He does get a bit wild with her. During one late night dinner, Teresa isn’t feeling good and passes out in the bathroom. The family carries her to bed. It seems to be blood sugar issue. She gets a hypodermic in the butt from her daughter’s fiancé Laszlo Apony (All Ladies Do It‘s Franco Branciaroli), but remains knocked out. Laszlo does seem to enjoy massaging her butt to keep the medicine flowing. The husband turns his unconscious wife into an art project as he uses a lamp to shade her just right. He also begins taking photos. Trouble is the only person who can develop them is Laszlo. This leads to Lazslo wanting to spend more time with his mother-in-law. Nino seems turned on by this affair. But how long can this relationship last without something going wrong. While Nino leaves his illustrated diary “open” for his wife, what if his daughter finds the key?
The Key is set in 1940 right before Italy becomes part of the Axis forces in World War II so there’s still a bit of the military involved on the screen. Although this is a lot less oriented as a historical “the evil men do” as found in Tinto Brass’ previous Salon Kitty (Germany) and Caligula (The Roman Empire). The film is based on a Japanese novel Kagi by Junichiro Tanizaki which wasn’t set in Italy. Tinto Brass makes the plot work in the Italy of his childhood with the rumblings of war between the moans of pleasure. The movie is extremely erotic with the way he lights and shoots Stefania Sandrelli in the bedroom action. He also begins to develop his sense of cinematic humor about the sensuality. During one seduction scene, Teresa reveals her nightgown can rise up in the back like a theater curtain. Tinto Brass seems to go where we expected The Benny Hill Show to show (if it wasn’t on broadcast TV). The Key ultimately shows that Tinto Brass had found his niche in cinema that he’d explore in the ’80s and beyond.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 4K transfer from the original negative looks great in 4K UHD. You’ll see all the highlights of Venice and Stefania Sandrelli. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 2.0. Mono for both English and Italian. My guess is both tracks were created in post production. You’ll get to hear quite a bit during the affair. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary by Eugenio Ercolani & Marcus Stilegger has them give a lot of background on Tinto Brass and his cast. The film had a bit of controversy when it was released. Stefania Sandrelli was an established actress and the role was shocking to her fans since they got to see so much of her on the screen.
Tinto’s Talisman (38:55) talks with actor Franco Branciaroli about playing the fiance who gets his future father-in-law wanting him to be part of his wild life. Franco appears to be in his dressing room at a theater. He talks about his life as a professional actor. He gets into meeting the director and landing the part in The Key. This led to appearing in several films for the director. He admits that nobody goes to a Tinto Brass to see him.
Keyhole Venice (7:34) revisits locations from the film to see how the city hasn’t quite changed that much in 45 years. You might want to book a trip to have a Keyhole vacation.
Sensuous Morricone (28:29) has film music historian Pier Paolo De Sancti gives the background on the score and what the composer was doing around this time. Turns out Morricone had done quite a few erotic films during his career. He does get risqué and pagan with his sounds. It should be noted that Morricone scored over 300 films.
Score by Ennio Morricone (32:05) is just the music the composer behind The Good, The Bad and The Ugly created for The Key. This is done without clips from the film so you can play it while doing other things.
Archival Interview with Tinto Brass (16:52) has the director talk about how he embraced erotic cinema. He followed his “brush” when it came to making these films. Brass speaks in English.
Outtakes Venice (10:14) is raw footage shot of locations around the watery city for the movie. The slates are including.
The Key Poster Gallery (2:45) has the various promotional items from around Europe including the lobby cards.
Tinto Brass Photo Gallery (2:48) are stills from Brass’ various films including The Key. Easy to see why he had a dedicated cinema following during his erotic era.
Tinto Brass Trailers include The Key, Cheeky!, Frivolous Lola and All Ladies Do It.
Illustrated Booklet contains an essay on Stefania Sandrelli.
Cult Epics present The Key. Directed by Tinto Brass. Screenplay by Tinto Brass. Starring Stefania Sandrelli, Frank Finlay, Barbara Cupisti, Franco Branciaroli, Ricky Tognazzi & Ugo Tognazzi. Rating: Unrated. Running Time: 112 minutes. Release Date: March 24, 2026.
