Abstract/Sommario: Pier Paolo Pasolini weaves together a handful of Giovanni Boccaccio’s fourteenth-century moral tales in this picturesque free-for-all. The Decameron explores the delectations and dark corners of an earlier and, as the filmmaker saw it, less compromised time. Among the chief delights are a young man’s exploits with a gang of grave robbers, a flock of randy nuns who sin with a strapping gardener, and Pasolini’s appearance as a pupil of the painter Giotto, at work on a massive fresco. One ...; [Leggi tutto...]
Pier Paolo Pasolini weaves together a handful of Giovanni Boccaccio’s fourteenth-century moral tales in this picturesque free-for-all. The Decameron explores the delectations and dark corners of an earlier and, as the filmmaker saw it, less compromised time. Among the chief delights are a young man’s exploits with a gang of grave robbers, a flock of randy nuns who sin with a strapping gardener, and Pasolini’s appearance as a pupil of the painter Giotto, at work on a massive fresco. One of the director’s most popular films, The Decameron, transposed to Naples from Boccaccio’s Florence, is a cutting takedown of the pieties surrounding religion and sex.
Abstract/Sommario: Legendary director (and avowed atheist) Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel According to Matthew [Il vangelo secondo Matteo] is one of the great retellings of the story of Christ – a cinematic rendering (filmed by invitation from the Pope, no less) at once both passionate and poetic. With stunning black-and-white photography, an eclectic soundtrack (Odetta, Bach, a Congolese mass, etc), and using a cast of non-professionals who voice dialogue drawn directly from scripture, The Gospel Acc ...; [Leggi tutto...]
Legendary director (and avowed atheist) Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel According to Matthew [Il vangelo secondo Matteo] is one of the great retellings of the story of Christ – a cinematic rendering (filmed by invitation from the Pope, no less) at once both passionate and poetic. With stunning black-and-white photography, an eclectic soundtrack (Odetta, Bach, a Congolese mass, etc), and using a cast of non-professionals who voice dialogue drawn directly from scripture, The Gospel According to Matthew depicts the key events in the life of Christ, from immaculate conception to death on the cross. Vaunted by the Vatican as one of its select few recommended films, acclaimed by the Archbishop of Canterbury as a “great film”, and revered by critics and audiences alike, Pasolini’s Oscar-, Golden Lion-, and BAFTA-nominated film remains a magnificent, awe-inspiring experience. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present The Gospel According to Matthew alongside Pasolini’s 1963 feature on the making of the film, Sopralluoghi in Palestina [Scouting in Palestine], in a special Dual Format edition.
Abstract/Sommario: Based on a story by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bertolucci's big screen debut is La Commare Secca (The Grim Reaper). After a prostitute is brutally murdered in a park near the Tiber river, the police track down people spotted in the park that night in hopes of catching the killer. The story is told in flashbacks as the suspects each give an account of their actions that night. With shades of Kurosawa's Rashomon and Pasolini's stirring screenplay, The Grim Reaper is one of the most impressive ...; [Leggi tutto...]
Based on a story by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bertolucci's big screen debut is La Commare Secca (The Grim Reaper). After a prostitute is brutally murdered in a park near the Tiber river, the police track down people spotted in the park that night in hopes of catching the killer. The story is told in flashbacks as the suspects each give an account of their actions that night. With shades of Kurosawa's Rashomon and Pasolini's stirring screenplay, The Grim Reaper is one of the most impressive cinematic debuts of all time.
Abstract/Sommario: From its sung opening credits, Hawks and Sparrows (Uccellacci e uccellini) is a wonderfully free-form picaresque fable that lampoons politics, religion and the state of modern Italy, as the beloved comic actor Totò, Pasolini regular Ninetto Davoli and a talking crow wander the landscape through a gauntlet of unexpected encounters. Pigsty (Porcile) is one of his most controversial works, interspersing the mute wanderings of cannibalistic savages against a barren, volcanic earth with the ...; [Leggi tutto...]
From its sung opening credits, Hawks and Sparrows (Uccellacci e uccellini) is a wonderfully free-form picaresque fable that lampoons politics, religion and the state of modern Italy, as the beloved comic actor Totò, Pasolini regular Ninetto Davoli and a talking crow wander the landscape through a gauntlet of unexpected encounters. Pigsty (Porcile) is one of his most controversial works, interspersing the mute wanderings of cannibalistic savages against a barren, volcanic earth with the tale of Julian (played by Nouvelle Vague icon Jean-Pierre Léaud), his radically politicised fiancée Ida (Anne Wiazemsky, Au Hasard Balthazar), and the financial machinations of his father Herr Klotz in contemporary industrialised Germany.
Abstract/Sommario: Pier Paolo Pasolini's masterpiece stars Anna Magnani (Rome Open City) as the fiery Mamma Roma, a prostitute who attempts to better her life for the sake of her son, Ettore. But her efforts may be too late: Ettore is drawn to life on the street, and falls, ironically, for a younger prostitute. Anna Magnani shows why Roberto Rossellini and Jean Renoir considered her the best actress they had worked with in a passionate, tour-de-force performance as Pasolini's Mamma Roma.
Abstract/Sommario: Il giovane Giasone, alla testa degli Argonauti, muove alla volta della remota Colchide per impadronirsi del Vello d'oro (una pelle di caprone dorata ritenuta apportatrice di potenza e fertilità), che dovrà servirgli per riscattare il trono usurpatogli dallo zio Pelia. La maga Medea, figlia del sovrano della Colchide, colpita dalla prestanza fisica di giasone, lo aiuta a rubare il prezioso simulacro e fugge con lui. Tornato in patria, Giasone sposa Medea e ha tre figli, ma, divorato dal ...; [Leggi tutto...]
Il giovane Giasone, alla testa degli Argonauti, muove alla volta della remota Colchide per impadronirsi del Vello d'oro (una pelle di caprone dorata ritenuta apportatrice di potenza e fertilità), che dovrà servirgli per riscattare il trono usurpatogli dallo zio Pelia. La maga Medea, figlia del sovrano della Colchide, colpita dalla prestanza fisica di giasone, lo aiuta a rubare il prezioso simulacro e fugge con lui. Tornato in patria, Giasone sposa Medea e ha tre figli, ma, divorato dall'ambizione, abbandona la famiglia per prendere in moglie Glauce, giovane figlia del re di Corinto. Resa folle dalla gelosia, Medea mette in atto una tremenda vendetta: con le sue arti magiche provoca la morte di Glauce e del re suo padre e, successivamente, uccide i propri figli, incurante delle invocazioni disperate di Giasone.
Questo dvd contiene anche "Le Mura di Sana'a" documentario in forma di appello all'Unesco, girato da Pasolini come grido d'allarme per l'antica e straordinaria città capitale dello Yemen del Nord, minacciata di essere modificata o abbattuta.
