Cheeky (2000)

better of him and he threatens to abandon their London plans, Carla responds not with tears and obedience but by throwing herself deeper into the pleasures appearing around her. Moira invites her home, boundaries dissolve with comic speed, and Moira’s former husband Mario soon joins the parade of people eager to sample Carla’s uncomplicated appetite. A decidedly unconventional party then pushes the story from naughty flirtation into full-blown erotic farce. Matteo eventually rushes to London unannounced, carrying enough wounded pride to power the Underground, and his confrontation with Carla forces both of them to face an awkward truth: his possessiveness and his desire are not opposites but badly behaved twins. Tinto Brass is not remotely interested in realism, tasteful restraint or a sensible discussion of monogamy. He creates a sunny sexual playground where every accidental touch becomes foreplay, strangers cheerfully undress and jealousy is treated as rocket fuel for the libido. The plot is flimsy, several advances would be alarming outside Brass’s cartoon universe, and the film becomes more episodic as it goes along. Yet its sheer good humour keeps it buoyant. Pino Donaggio’s playful score, the warm photography and Brass’s restless peeping camera make the first half especially lively, while the later confrontations give the bedroom games a small but genuine emotional hook. Beneath all the bare flesh, the film is reaching for a mischievous argument about lovers, lies and the dangerous thrill of knowing that the person you adore is desired by somebody else. Whether that argument convinces you is another matter, but Carla’s refusal to feel guilty about being alive gives the picture its pulse.

Made at the turn of the millennium but behaving like the sexual revolution never ended, the film moves between conservative, suspicious Venice and a London imagined as one large coed playground. Carla’s apartment exterior was filmed at Cubitt Wharf on the Isle of Dogs, giving her adventures a recognizably modern Thames backdrop. The vibe is bright, sun-warmed and defiantly old-school European: part softcore comedy, part lovers’ quarrel and part ninety-minute celebration of lingerie, keyholes and gloriously impractical skirts.

Yuliya Mayarchuk carries the picture with a bubbly, mischievous performance that is far more important than the screenplay. Blonde, curvy and blessed with an open, girl-next-door prettiness, she plays Carla as sweet rather than calculating—a woman who knows precisely what effect she has on people and sees no reason to apologize for it. Brass photographs her from every conceivable angle, with his famous enthusiasm for shapely bottoms very much in command. The uncut film contains abundant full nudity, intimate close-ups, masturbation, lesbian play and prolonged simulated sex, making it extremely explicit by ordinary movie standards. Mayarchuk nevertheless keeps it playful and inviting; her sauciest weapon is not what she reveals, but the delighted grin suggesting she may reveal even more.

While scouting out apartments in London for her Venetian boyfriend, Carla rents an apartment overlooking the Thames. There, she meets a real estate agent by the name of Moira.