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Released by: Arrow Video
Released on: June 12th, 2017.
Director: Tinto Brass
Cast: Anna Ammirati, Patrick Mower, Mario Parodi, Serena Grandi, Antonio Salnies, Francesca Nunzi, Laura Trotter, Edith Rozanyai, Osiride Peverallo
Year: 1988
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Frivolous Lola - Movie Review:
Lola (the gorgeous Anna Ammirati) 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 local men. 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 her mother's friend, who just so happens to be a porno producer.
As her relationship with him develops, she begins to miss Masetto in spite of his shortcomings, and beings 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 shot 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 beforehand. 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 it is a fairly consistent 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 comedy.
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 her 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 nice 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 as demonstrated by the screenshot above. But those who enjoy some masterfully constructed moments of eroticism tangled in amongst their sex comedy antics should certainly check the film out.
Frivolous Lola - Blu-ray Review:
Frivolous Lola takes up 31.6Gbs of space on the 50GB Region B locked disc. The AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer is framed at 1.78.1 widescreen and it looks decent while definitely leaving room for improvement. Presumably taken from a date master, detail surpasses standard definition to be sure but doesn't compare to what newer high definition transfers are able to provide. Colors are reproduced quite nicely though black levels are a step or two away from reference quality. The image is clean throughout, showing a bit of print damage under the optical during the opening credits but otherwise pretty much spotless. Not reference quality, but more than watchable.
Audio options are provided in 16-bit English and Italian LPCM 2.0 Mono with optional subtitles offered in English that translate the Italian language track and English SDH options for the English track. The film plays far better in Italian than it does in the dubbed English version, so that's the ideal option here. However, both tracks sound just fine, offering decent range, clear dialogue and proper balance.
There are menus and chapter selections here but outside of that the only extra on the disc is the film's original theatrical trailer and Italian language opening and closing credits. Arrow has supplied some reversible cover sleeve art for this release.
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. Arrow's disc looks okay, if not amazing, but the lack of extra features is disappointing.
Click on the images below for full sized Frivolous Lola Blu-ray screen caps!
