Eldergays, tell me about Pier Paolo Pasolini

today was/is his birthday.

Born in 1922

Could never get into his poetry or novels or movies. He's most famous for his movies, at least in America, but they're joyless experiences that don't reveal any special gift for moviemaking.

He was an Italian poet and filmmaker who made art house movies. He preferred working with non-actors.

He was beaten to death on a beach and some say it was a covered-up government hit.

I've seen three of his films and part of a fourth. I liked Mamma Roma, but primarily because of Anna Magnani.

I couldn't make it through The Gospel According To St. Matthew - very dull and the the non-actor playing Jesus was charisma-free.

Teorema has Terence Stamp at his most gorgeous and there is some interesting gay content, but the film is a bore for the most part.

Medea is interesting for Maria Callas' only film as an actress (she doesn't sing), but the plot lurches forward and you really don't care about anyone in it.

I have no interest in Salo.

He put a lot of thick peen in his movies, for which we should be grateful.

My favorite Pasholini ish Por-shee-lay.

Ish terrif! I mean, ish belleeshimo!

In Italy, he is worshipped. I've never understood it.

R7, see R5.

For the serious minded:

He was murdered by a gay4pay thug probably tied to Italian mafia.

He made sexually and scatalogically graphic movies like SALO: 120 DAYS OF SODOM which was a metaphor condemning the Italian fascists of the Mussolini era.

His movies inspired the life-long sexual and culinary habits of Ms. Patrick Campbell, a.k.a. Erna.

Really? Scat??

EWWWW

I don’t think I could handle watching (the seemingly endless) SALO again, but this person takes it seriously:

A simple Google search would answer OP's question.

A simple Google search would answer OP's question.

More:

Post war Italy well past 1970's was not a place for those who stepped out of line. Plenty of others suffered horrible fates as well.

His stuff was weird performance art type stuff with a political slant. If memory serves me right, in Salo, it was controversial because he had underage tween boys nude in it. They aren't aroused but it was still very taboo.

R13 R14

You rather missed the point.

I know there was a Wikipedia article. I wanted to understand his impact better.

When you research Censorship in cinema, he and his films are always mentioned. He was banned for obscenity and the like. He received the dreaded "X-rating" on some of his work and theaters wouldn't play his stuff, which just compelled him to push the envelope even more. Italy is a very Catholic country, so you can't blame them for finding his work obscene.

Pasolini and Peter Greenaway are my two most favorite directors because the massive number of dongs after dongs presented in their films. OP is probably too old to see the beauty of dongs on-screen at her old age?

Aged pederast who died as he lived.

Post war Italian cinema had a strong social realist streak--actors not looking pretty or regular folks telling stories about every day life. he was of this school of cinema but pushed the boundaries in terms of sexual content (the seedy underbelly of life). Fellini took the realism and added fantasy/mystery/mystical elements and had far more success. And yes many of these films seem boring to modern eyes.

Am not an eldergay but love, love, love Pasolini - he is my favourite director. His films are poetic and visually stunning. The trilogy of life (adaptations of the Canterbury Tales, The Decameron, and the Arabian Nights) are probably the easiest route into his work. Salo is a tough watch, it's true..

He had a long affair with the youthful, acne-stricken Ninetto Davoli (what did he see in him?), who left him to marry a woman. PPP did prefer them younger, this was rather a character flaw and was what led to his death/was what provided the cover story for his death, depending on what you believe.

This is worth reading. He was a poet and novelist first though I don't think his work is read too much anymore. It's interesting to speculate on the impact on his cinema.

When he died he was writing a novel, 'Petrol' (Il Petrolio) about corruption in government and the oil industry, it would have been fascinating if it had been finished.

Also interesting: although gay and a marxist, he was also profoundly Catholic, Despite his other political views he opposed abortion.

Did anyone see this?

[quote] Did anyone see this?

[quote] 31,684 views

I hazard an answer of “yes”.

PPP and Ninetto D

That basket would distract me, too

He was mentioned a few times in Romanzo Criminale, which is an entertaining series about 1970s Italy.

Not an eldergay, but I love Pasolini.

At a press conference in 1966, Pasolini was asked why he, an unbeliever, had made The Gospel According to St. Matthew, which dealt with religious themes; his response was, "If you know that I am an unbeliever, then you know me better than I do myself. I may be an unbeliever, but I am an unbeliever who has a nostalgia for a belief." He also said the film was "a reaction against the conformity of Marxism. The mystery of life and death and of suffering - and particularly of religion - is something that Marxists do not want to consider. But these are and have always been questions of great importance for human beings."

Enrique Irazoqui died in September. I wonder if it was the COVID.

It's been so many decades since I watched many of his films, that I just can't remember them, not even Salo. However, I do remember really enjoying "The Hawks and the Sparrows" and "Accattone".

The trailer at r31 is sublime

Pasolini was a malcontent. When Italians were poor, he raged at the poverty. When they started to earn a little money and enjoy themselves, he objected to their materialism. He spoke out against the Catholic Church, but later valued it for nostalgic reasons and for its uniquely Italian qualities. His political fulminations and cinematic style tend to be very heavy-handed.

Made sense that he took up with Ninetto Davoli, who was an airheaded but very sweet, happy-go-lucky guy. He probably needed something a little calmer after all that rage.

[R2], I couldn't have said it better myself. Utterly joyless, and unpleasant when not dull.

[quote]Pasolini was a malcontent.

I can relate, and maybe that's why I like his work