riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (11/01/83)
Among "art film" fans of my acquaintance, one director stands out as a
producer of "erotic art": Pier Paolo Pasolini, director of the trilogy
"The Canterbury Tales," "The Arabian Nights" and "The Decameron." I have
seen the first two films, and I was enthralled by them. Pasolini had a
wonderful knack for transferring literature based on an oral tradition to
the screen. His films were long, rambling and episodic, changing often in
mood from the somber to the hilarious, just like the works from which he
drew them. He was a fine storyteller with the camera, but his real genius
was his eye for beautiful form, both human and architectural. He made his
films in "exotic" locations in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and relied
heavily on breathtakingly beautiful locals for his cast and breathtakingly
beautiful cities for his sets. And although the films feature less "action"
than the two-bit videos at your local hard-core arcade, the focus of much of
his filmmaking was the erotic.
Pasolini was himself an interesting figure, about whom I'd like to know more.
Up until recently I had heard of him only as a filmmaker, but in Europe he is
known primarily as a poet, novelist and political thinker. An avowed commu-
nist and homosexual, he was despised during his lifetime by all segments of
the political spectrum in his native Italy. He was murdered a few years back
under peculiar circumstances, presumably by a young man whom he had proposi-
tioned on the beach. Since this "martyrdom" he has become something of a
hero to those seeking political alternatives in Europe, primarily because of
his commitment both to socialism and to the sides of human nature, including
the sexual, often ignored or repressed by the party line. Unfortunately, very
little of his written work is available in English, but his films are definite-
ly worth checking out.
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Prentiss Riddle
{ihnp4,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddle
riddle@ut-sally.UUCPmsimpson@bbncca.ARPA (Mike Simpson) (11/03/83)
Pasolini also directed the powerful film "Medea", starring (if that's the right word) Maria Callas. It's certainly a compelling film, even though I feel that Callas' talents were under-utilized. (As for 'eroticism', certain of the actors were not unpleasant to look at, and anyone who says that Maria Callas it not erotic just doesn't know what he/she is talking about. -- cheers, Mike Simpson Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc. Ten Moulton Street, Cambridge, MA 02238 (USnail) msimpson@bbn-unix (ARPA) decvax!bbncca!msimpson (Usenet) msimpson.bbn-unix@udel-relay (CSNET) 617-497-2819 (Ma Bell)