Attraction (Nerosubianco)

Tinto Brass

Cult Epics

R0 DVD

Cult Epics never ceases to amaze and astound, from their earliest releases they have made available strange and wonderful films not seen anywhere else. Attraction is certainly a rare discovery. Attraction (Nerosubianco) by Tinto Brass was a surreal pop art film made in the late Sixties reflecting on the nature of sexual suppression. It was released in the United States through Radley Metzger’s Audubon films as The Artful Penetration of Barbara and Cult Epics have got hold of a very impressive 16mm print.

Attraction is a surreal journey through what is really one long music video clip. It has no real linear plot but simply presents on scene the experience of Barbara (Anita Sanders), a married woman who, unsatisfied with her husband, resists then finally revels in love with an African-American man. Barbara believes her husband Paulo no longer finds her attractive and hence has lost confidence in her own emotions and sexuality.

The film explores her experiences through artistic imagery, symbolism, iconography and the externalization of her internal dialogue. It playfully uses all manner of imagery from advertising to logos, film clips to news footage. Major themes such as “sexual suppression (prohibito) causing violence” are expressed through montages of footage, clips, news articles and animation. At times there is a riot of images driven by the truly psychedelic soundtrack by Ray Royer and Bobby Harrison of Freedom, which were the remnants of the group Procal Harum.

Brass carefully manipulates the pace of the film so we do not get too comfortable; at times funny, at time erotic, it also becomes confronting and taboo breaking. Just some of the more lasting images include old women in a hairdressers becoming cows, a woman belting her husband with a baby who then throws it out a window, a girl with a flower shoots her brains out and a model with a stylized machine gun mows men down !

There are also strange memorable but indecipherable one-lines such as “the medium is the massage” and a fun use of advertising slogans, logos, posters and marketing ploys in a way which subverts their intended message and uses it to reinforce Brass’ key theme of the danger of sexual suppression and related themes regarding the Vietnam War, Race Relations, misuse of authority and so on.

Attraction is presented in an anamorphic widescreen transfer which offers a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. While there is some minor damage visible at the credits (start and end), the rest is surprisingly clear with very minor problems here and there. Considering the rarity of this film the colours are excellent and the soundtrack is clear. A nice menu option is the ability to choose segments of the movie by song.

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This review will appear in Volume 2 No.6 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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