Color, 1992, 96 mins. 30 secs.
Directed by Tinto Brass
Starring Claudia Koll, Paolo Lanza, Franco Branciaroli, Ornella Marcucci
Cult Epics (UHD, Blu-ray & DVD) (US R0 4K/HD/NTSC) / WS (1.85:1) (16:9), Arrow Video (Blu-Ray & DVD) (UK RB/R2 HD/PAL), Umbrella (Australia R0 PAL) / WS (1.78:1) (16:9)
Deriving its humorous Italian title, Cosi Fan Tutte, from Mozart's famous comic opera, Cosi Fan Tutti, this early '90s romp is one of director Tinto Brass's lightest, fluffiest films. Most likely influenced by the growing European popularity of Pedro Almodóvar, Brass spends much time leering on women's posteriors but also devotes more attention than usual to the intricacies of visual decor and some delicious background details. This time our rump-endowed heroine is Diana (Koll), a happily married woman who nevertheless spends her time romping with a number of men. Fortunately her husband, Paul (Lanza), doesn't mind her little escapades; in fact, he rather enjoys hearing about them. Things get out of control, however, when Diana has a fling with an ass-obsessed poet named Alphonse and takes off to a wild jet set, omnisexual outdoor bash, where she dabbles in party drugs and literally anything goes.
With this film Brass teams up for the first time with the gifted Venetian composer, Pino Donaggio, best known for his Brian De Palma scores like Dressed to Kill and Carrie. The music here adds a considerable flourish to the proceedings, working in pop motifs and appropriate nods to Mozart with equal aplomb (a la his wonderful earlier score for De Palma's Home Movies). Significantly, this was one of the earlier Brass films (alongside Paprika) from his softcore era without any significant stars; he had managed to land some pretty notable names for his prior films like Stefania Sandrelli, Serena Grandi, Andrea Occhipinti, Luc Merenda, Giancarlo Giannini, and Frank Finlay, but here the focus is more on unknown faces. That turned out to be the approach for most of his subsequent films (apart from the marvelous Senso 45), and Claudia Koll is definitely one of his strongest discoveries of the period. She's a sunny, engaging presence, often engaged in wildly uninhibited scenes without a shred of guilt. She also makes for one heck of a fashion model, with the big party scene allowing her to strut her stuff in a set piece most actresses would kill for. Not surprisingly, she went on to have a fairly healthy acting career including the lead role on the Italian TV series Valeria medico legale.
The first English-friendly DVD releases of All Ladies Do It - identical transfers in the U.S. and U.K. - were full frame with hard matted 1.66:1 opening credits; as with the nearly simultaneous Dutch DVD release (from Dutch Filmworks), this was the standard English-dubbed export version. The subsequent Italian DVD revealed that Brass originally shot the film in a much harder version than what the export market saw, filled with his trademark prosthetic phalluses bobbing around in numerous scenes and one fleeting shot during the nighttime party that looks an awful lot like the real thing. His original cut, running five minutes longer than the 87-minute (PAL time) English version, finally made it to U.S. DVD in a revised edition from Cult Epics, featuring the superior Italian audio with optional English subtitles. Unfortunately it's from a PAL master that hasn't been adjusted, so it runs faster at 92m35s and has motion blurring issues galore. The extended U.S. disc was also available in a boxed set with remastered versions of Miranda and The Key, also featuring 10 minutes of outtake footage showing the cast clowning around during shooting plus the trailer, bios for Brass and Koll, and an interview with Brass (15m9s) about the story's origins, the cast, and the two different versions.
The 2013 U.K. dual-format release from Arrow marks the film's first British appearance in its more explicit Italian release form, with both the English and Italian PCM soundtracks included with optional, newly translated English subtitles. As for the transfer, well... it's a total disaster that vandalizes the entire color scheme and framing of the film. Everything has a heavy blue tint, the signature vibrant reds are now entirely gone, the black are sickly and washed out, and it's cropped way too heavily on the top with actors' faces frequently disappearing from view when they're walking around. The cheeky cover art is reversible with the original poster art on the other side, while the liner notes booklet contains an essay by David Flint. The sole video extra is the inventive theatrical trailer, which features Brass and Koll cozying up and pitching the film to the audience with lots of gusto.
In 2024, Cult Epics revisited the film as its inaugural title in a line of UHD Tinto Brass editions, which makes sense as it's one of his most colorful works. To put it mildly, the new 4K transfer from the negative (especially with the HDR-augmented UHD) tramples all over past home video releases with much healthier colors, lots of detail and textured film grain in evidence, and more visual info in the frame. The restored film grain can get a bit thick and noisy at times in bright, pure white areas, but that seems to be inherent into the source. Here you get the usual Italian and English mono tracks (DTS-HD MA 2.0) with optional English subtitles, plus 2.0 stereo options for both. The Italian stereo track is definitely the most robust of the choices and has the most spatial separation, but your mileage may vary. Trailers are included for this film and Frivolous Lola, plus the 2001 Brass interview from the earlier Cult Epics DVD, the outtakes, and a photo gallery, while the feature itself comes with a lively new audio commentary by Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth who offer lots about Koll's casting and later career, the theatrical market for these films at the time, Brass' importance as a pop culture figure, and lots more. The initial pressing also comes with four lobby card reproductions, a lengthy 20-page insert booklet with an essay by Ercolani and Domenico Monetti about Koll's fascinating career, and a slipcase. Not to be overlooked is an extra special feature added to the listing at Diabolik: "For Fans of Big Butts."
Cult Epics (UHD)
Arrow Video (Blu-ray)
Cult Epics (DVD)
Updated review on April 2, 2024