The earlier of Arrow Video’s two new Tinto Brass releases, The Key is set in Mussolini’s Italy, and sees a middle-aged husband and wife (Frank Finlay and Stefania Sandrelli) indulging their sexual fantasies by writing about them in their diaries and then reading each other’s writings. The frustrated husband photographs his sleeping wife in the nude and shows the images to other men, while his wife takes the son-in-law as her new lover.
The Key – one very silly scene aside – is much more po-faced than Arrow’s other Brass release, All Ladies Do It, and is rather less fun for the difference. The couple’s various sexual adventures tend to be variations on a series of very similar scenes, and Brass, while he may have a rather singular style, is too tied up in his visual preoccupations to inject much variety or energy into proceedings. The drama also comes off rather flat, despite the fact that Finlay and Sandrelli both do much of their own voice work in a soundtrack that mixes Italian and English (both languages are dubbed).
In all honesty I’m not sure who, in today’s market, this is for. It’s weak as a relationship drama and if you want porn then there are infinite options out there that go further. Sandrelli is staggeringly good looking, but that can’t sustain what is a rather dull film.
The picture and sound are more than adequate. The image is soft and gauzy, but the HD resolution is still incredibly (and explicitly) detailed. I doubt The Key has ever looked this good outside of Tinto Brass’ editing room. The soundtrack won’t give your system a workout but dialogue, music and moaning are well separated and mixed.
It’s disappointing to find that, like All Ladies Do It, this release is bereft of extras, bar a trailer and a booklet which was not supplied for review, largely because I wonder whether some context on Brass and his films would enable this one to play better. Ultimately, unless you’re a Euro softcore completist, I can’t recommend this release.
Sam has awarded The Key two Torches of Truth
