Tinto Brass, Director of Notorious Epic 'Caligula', Dies at 93

Tinto Brass, the Italian director whose X-rated historical epic "Caligula" scandalized audiences worldwide, has died at 93. His wife, Caterina Varzi, and children Bonifacio and Beatrice Brass confirmed his death to the Italian news agency Ansa. They gave no cause.

Giovanni "Tinto" Brass began as an avant-garde filmmaker, not an erotic one. History, as his filmography shows, is full of pivots.

Where did Brass start?

His debut, "Who Works Is Lost," followed a day in the life of an unemployed designer and screened at the 1963 Venice Film Festival. The 1960s and '70s brought a run of experimental work, including "Yankee" (1966), a Western about a standoff between a bounty hunter and a crime boss, and "Col cuore in gola" (1967), a murder mystery starring Jean-Louis Trintignant.

The turn came in 1976 with "Salon Kitty," a historical drama set in a Berlin brothel during the Nazi era. That film moved Brass into erotic filmmaking, where he stayed.

What made 'Caligula' infamous?

The 1979 production told the story of one of Rome's most notorious emperors. Gore Vidal wrote it and later disavowed it. Bob Guccione, founder of Penthouse, produced it.

The cast looked respectable on paper:

• Peter O'Toole
• Helen Mirren
• John Gielgud
• Malcolm McDowell in the title role

The content did not. The film made headlines for its frank depiction of ancient Rome's sexual depravity, including orgies and hardcore sex. It was re-edited and re-cut several times, then bombed at the U.S. box office after opening in 1980.

A flop, then. But flops age better than mediocrity. "Caligula" built a significant cult following over the decades, and a 178-minute "Ultimate Cut" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 to a warmer reception from reviewers.

How will he be remembered?

Brass leaves a strange double legacy: a Venice-launched experimentalist who became synonymous with the most notorious X-rated epic ever funded by a men's magazine. The rehabilitation of "Caligula" at Cannes, four decades after its box-office failure, suggests that the critical argument over his work is not finished. Future restorations and retrospectives will decide whether the auteur or the provocateur gets the last word.