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Released by: Cult Epics
Released on: May 7th, 2024.
Director: Tinto Brass
Cast: Anna Ammirati, Patrick Mower, Mario Parodi, Serena Grandi, Antonio Salnies
Year: 1998
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Frivolous Lola – Movie Review:
Set in the 1950’s, our story follows Lola (the gorgeous Anna Ammirati), a beautiful young woman who is popular around her small town, thanks in no small part to the fact that she spends a lot of her free time gallivanting around on her bike and showing off her backside to the men who live in the area. She's engaged to a local boy named Masetto (Mario Parodi) who refuses to sleep with her until they've been legally wed. Lola suspects that the only reason he is so incredibly insistent on this is because he doesn't trust her to stay monogamous, and thus should be able to tell on their wedding night if she's stayed faithful to him all this time or not.
Unfortunately, Masetto has a tendency to lose his temper. More than once he blows his top at Lola, yelling at her and upsetting her enough that she decides to call it quits with him. They break up and, sooner rather than later, Lola becomes interested in her mother's friend, who just so happens to be a porno film producer.
As her relationship with him develops, she begins to miss Masetto in spite of his shortcomings. She begins to think about him more and more until she has to decide who she wants to be with, and more importantly, why she wants to be with him.
As per the norm with Brass' films, Frivolous Lola is a beautifully lesned affair with great use of colors, elegant shots and sets, and plenty of pretty female backsides on display. The highlight of this uncut version is Lola's masturbation scene, with is longer and more graphic in this edition than in the trimmed editions that have been made available outside of Italy previously. Little is left to the imagination in this scene, and we're all the better for it as it's not only incredibly hot but very well directed as well. Brass lets us see just enough in a conveniently placed mirror to pique our interest before showing us what we all want to see. It's a nice touch, and the movie is scattered with little bits and pieces like this throughout which make it a lot of fun.
Some of the humor works better than other parts but this fairly consistent by the standards of a European sex comedy. Lola is a truly likeable girl - her character has a fun personality and she's obviously very carefree and her flirtatiousness is infectious. Masetto is a bit of a jerk sometimes but their interaction is interesting and, at times, very realistic for what is at its core a softcore exploitation film.
A memorable scene involving a shot through a keyhole stands out, as does a scene where Lola does her business outside in a rainstorm. The underwater photography used briefly towards the end of the film is also quite striking with its nice use of blue hues as oxygen bubbles swell up around Lola’s face while she's skinny dipping in a lake. Brass makes sure that the camera is placed strategically underneath his heroine as she swims above the lens, giving viewers a lingering view of her body.
While the action never quite reaches hardcore proportions, this cut of the film does come close, particularly during her aforementioned masturbation scene, the sounds of 50s era rock and roll swirling around in the background. Those looking for typical porno thrills like penetration scenes and the like would do well to look elsewhere as the closest the film gets to that is the shadow of some sex. However, those who enjoy some masterfully constructed moments of eroticism tangled in amongst their sex comedy antics should certainly check the film out.
Frivolous Lola – UHD Review:
Frivolous Lola arrives on UHD in an HEVC encoded 2160p and framed in its proper original widescreen 1.85.1 aspect ratios with HDR and it looks really strong. Colors pop without looking boosted or oversaturated and skin tones look natural throughout, never too pink or too orange. We get nice, deep black levels and an impressive level of detail, depth and texture evident throughout pretty much the entire film, though keep in mind that most of the movie is shot in a hazy, soft style so for that reason it doesn’t quite pop the way other movies might on the format. Overall, however, seeing this in 4k really brings out the quality of the camerawork in the movie, while the transfer avoids compression artifacts or any overly aggressive sharpening or smoothing of any kind. You’ll be hard pressed to notice any print damage, dirt or debris at all, the image is pretty much spotless through and through. The picture always looks like it was taken from a legitimate film source, meaning it never looks especially digitized or manipulated. All in all, the picture quality here is really strong and this is quite a bit upgrade over past editions.
English and Italian language options are provided in 24-bit DTS-HD 5.1 Surround Sound and 24-bit DTS-HD 2.0 Stereo, with optional subtitles provided for both tracks in English only. The film plays better in Italian but the English dubbed track isn’t awful at all, so go with whatever option you prefer. The 5.1 mixes spread things out into the rear channels nicely, most the score but occasionally effects and dialogue as well. Audio quality is also quite good, with the dialogue always up front in the mix and never overpowered by the use of music in the film. The performers are always easy to understand and follow and neither mix has any hiss or distortion to complain about.
The main extra on the UHD is a commentary track from Eugenio Ercolani and Nathanial Thompson that goes over plenty of details regarding the movie, noting that it is widely considered the last of the "Golden Age of Brass' filmography." They talk about how his work rose to popularity in the eighties, the different genres that he worked in, his cameo in the opening sequence, how the movie compares to some of his other efforts, thoughts on the performances and the cast members including Serena Grandi and, of course, Anna Ammirati. They also talk about some of the more iconic moments in the film, the movie's theme song, whether or not Brass' films qualify as pornography, the film's distribution, Brass' career outside of erotic film, the director's ability to attract big talent, thoughts on the film's conclusion and lots more.
The UHD also contains trailers for the feature as well as for All Ladies Do It, Paprika, P.O. Box Tinto Brass and Istintobrass.
The included Blu-ray disc carries over the same extras that are included on the UHD and also contains an interview with Director Tinto Brass from 2004 that runs twenty-six minutes. Brass, cigar in hand of course, speaks in English about the use of music in the movie, where the idea for the movie came from, the film's distribution history, thoughts on his cast members and Amma Ammirati in particular, the cinematography in the film, his influences, feminism, repentance, critical response to his movies, making films for adult audiences the film's ending and more.
A photo gallery, menus and chapter selection options are also provided.
As to the packaging, this release comes packaged with some reversible cover sleeve art with the original Italian uncensored poster art on one side and the English language version seen on the other side. We also get a twenty-page illustrated booklet containing an essay by Eugenio Ercolani and Domenico Monetti titled ‘A Committed Brat: The Career Of Anna Ammirati’ well worth reading and complimented by a nice selection of photos of the film’s leading lady. A slipcase is also provided, as is a collection of four postcard-sized reproductions of some Italian Lobby card.
Frivolous Lola - The Final Word:
Frivolous Lola is Brass at his playful best, a movie that is as sexy as it is charming highlighted by a great performance from the beautiful Anna Ammirati. Cult Epics gives the movie the treatment that it deserves with this release, presenting it in an excellent presentation and with a nice selection of extra features. Essential!
Click on the images below, or right click and open in a new window, for full sized screen caps from the Frivolous Lola Blu-ray!
