# Tinto Brass, Italian erotic cinema pioneer, dies at 93

> The director of Caligula and Salon Kitty, who began as an assistant to Rossellini, brought Italian erotic cinema to mainstream audiences.
- Title: Tinto Brass, Italian erotic cinema pioneer, dies at 93
- Summary: The director of Caligula and Salon Kitty, who began as an assistant to Rossellini, brought Italian erotic cinema to mainstream audiences. Tinto Brass…
- Keywords: tinto brass, caligula, salon kitty, italian cinema, erotic film, roberto rossellini, bob guccione, gore vidal, the Guardian
- Source: the Guardian — https://theguardian.com/film/2026/nov/04/tinto-brass-director-of-caligula-erotic-cinema-dies-aged-93
- Published: 2026-11-04T16:47:15+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: tinto brass, caligula, salon kitty, italian cinema, erotic film, roberto rossellini, bob guccione, gore vidal, news, world
## Tinto Brass dies at ninety three
Italian film director Tinto Brass, known for erotic cinema including Caligula and Salon Kitty, has died. His wife Caterina Varzi and children Bonifacio and Beatrice announced the news to Italian press agency Ansa on Wednesday.
## From Rossellini's assistant to experimental filmmaker
Born in Milan and raised in Venice, Brass worked as an editor and archivist at the Cinémathèque in Paris before returning to Italy as an editor and assistant director to Roberto Rossellini.
## Eroticism as human expression
In the nineteen seventies, Brass moved into erotic cinema. He told La Repubblica newspaper: I made so many erotic films because I believed eroticism to be a fundamental key to human expression and, above all…

> I made so many erotic films because I believed eroticism to be a fundamental key to human expression and, above all, the key to portraying women.
## Salon Kitty and Caligula
His nineteen seventy six film Salon Kitty, about a Berlin brothel used by Nazis to spy, caught producer Bob Guccione's attention.
## Caligula's disputed legacy
Brass disavowed Caligula after Guccione added unsimulated hardcore sex scenes without permission. Released in nineteen eighty with Brass credited only for principal photography, a recut version without Guccione's inserts was released in twenty twenty three…
## Key takeaway

Tinto Brass, Italian director who pioneered erotic cinema with Caligula and Salon Kitty, has died aged ninety three.