To label Tinto Brass Presents Erotic Short Stories Part 1: Julia as mere pornography is to misunderstand the director’s intent. Yes, there is unsimulated sex. Yes, the “top” search queries often lead to adult aggregators.
But watch the film. The dialogue is literary (adapted from a short story by Alberto Moravia’s less-famous contemporary, Anna Banti). The lighting mimics Caravaggio. And the final shot—Julia smiling, alone, eating a peach in the garden as the sun sets—is pure Renaissance painting. This is why 1999’s Julia remains the “top” of the series: it is the rare instance where a man, notorious for filming the female posterior, actually captured the soul. To label Tinto Brass Presents Erotic Short Stories
The keyword specifies "part 1 julia 1999 top," and for good reason. Unlike later segments that sometimes felt rushed, Julia boasts a coherent, emotionally resonant story. But watch the film
The Plot: Julia (played by the enigmatic, short-lived star Erika Savastani, credited only as "Julia") is a bored, affluent housewife in Northern Italy. Her husband, a traveling industrialist, cares more about his vintage car collection than his wife’s needs. Left alone in a sprawling modernist villa, Julia discovers a hidden cache of Polaroids and letters—evidence of her husband’s secret affair. Instead of confronting him with tears, she devises a revenge plot. And the final shot—Julia smiling, alone, eating a
Her weapon? Not poison, but pleasure. Julia seduces her husband’s young, handsome chauffeur (Max Bertol), but with a twist: she forces the chauffeur to wear her husband’s clothes, drive her in the husband’s prized Alfa Romeo, and finally, make love to her on the husband’s side of the marital bed—all while she stares directly into a mirror (read: the camera lens). The climax (narrative and literal) is pure Tinto Brass: a triumphant, defiant solo dance as Julia holds the chauffeur's cap like a trophy.
Book: Monografie inquietudini: Tinto Brass Author: Various authors (Critical anthology, often cited in Italian Film Studies)