Tinto Brass, Director of the X-Rated ‘Caligula,’ Dies at 93

Tinto Brass, the Italian director best known for helming the X-rated Roman Empire epic Caligula, starring Malcolm McDowell, died Wednesday in Rome, his family announced. He was 93.

Brass started out in the 1960s with avant-garde films before he pivoted to erotic cinema, with his other features in the genre including Salon Kitty (1976), The Key (1983), Paprika (1991), All Ladies Do It (1992), Frivolous Lola (1998) and Cheeky (2000).

McDowell starred in the title role as the sexually deranged emperor in Caligula (1979), written by Gore Vidal and produced by Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione. The film, also featuring Helen Mirren, Peter O’Toole, John Gielgud and lots of orgies, was slammed by critics and audiences after its original release.

Brass and Vidal clashed during production and would disown the feature — the director was unhappy with the editing (done after he was fired), the screenwriter with how Brass rewrote his script. Caligula, however, gained a cult following over the decades, and a 178-minute “ultimate cut” version received a showcase at Cannes in 2023.

Born in Milan on March 26, 1933, and raised in Venice, Giovanni Brass earned a law degree, worked as an archivist at the Cinémathèque Française in Paris and served as an assistant director to Roberto Rossellini and Alberto Cavalcanti.

He made his feature directorial debut on Who Works Is Lost, which screened at the 1963 Venice International Film Festival, then helmed Yankee (1966), a Western, and the murder mystery I Am What I Am (1967), starring Jean-Louis Trintignant. (The last one received a 4K restoration and a screening at Venice in September.)

In 1970s, he won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for his surrealist comedy The Howl, which he also wrote.

Survivors include his second wife, Caterina, whom he married in 2017, and his children, Bonifacio and Beatrice. His first wife was Carla Cipriani; he was married to the daughter of Harry’s Bar founder Giuseppe Cipriani from 1957 until her death in 2006.