Pasolini, Pier Paolo

Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom

Pier Paolo Pasolini s notorious final film, Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, has been called nauseating, shocking, depraved, pornographic . . . it s also a masterpiece. The controversial poet, novelist, and filmmaker s transposition of the Marquis de Sade s 18th-century opus of torture and degradation to 1944 Fascist Italy remains one of the most passionately debated films of all time, a thought-provoking inquiry into the political, social, and sexual dynamics that define the world we live in.

SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
The End of Salò, a 40-minute documentary about the film s final scene
Salò: Yesterday and Today, a 35-minute documentary featuring interviews with Pier Paolo Pasolini, actor-filmmaker Jean-Claude Biette, and Pasolini s friend Nineto Davoli
Fade to Black, a new short documentary about Salò, featuring interviews with filmmakers Bernardo Bertolucci, Catherine Breillat, and John Maybury
New interviews with set designer Dante Ferretti and filmmaker/film scholar Jean-Pierre Gorin
Optional English-dubbed soundtrack
Theatrical trailer
Optional English subtitles
PLUS: A booklet featuring new essays by Neil Bartlett, Roberto Chiesi, Naomi Greene, Gary Indiana, and Sam Rohdie, and excerpts from Gideon Bachman s on-set diary

The Gospel According to St. Matthew

Christ's life is presented with respect for the traditional religious doctrine of the Church but Pasolini's trademark naturalism humanizes his subject and makes him his own. The documentary-style camera captures Christ's meetings with the men who were to become his disciples the Last Supper the betrayal by Judas and the Crucifixion. The impassioned music of Bach Mozart and Prokofiev lends a further aura of spiritual intensity to the proceedings.System Requirements:Runtime: 90 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: MISCELLANEOUS/SPECIAL INTEREST Rating: NR UPC: 796019799492 Manufacturer No: 79949

Released in 1964, The Gospel According to St. Matthew marks an important shift away from the gritty urban realism of Pasolini's earlier films towards the visionary imagery of his later work. A committed but far from conformist Marxist, Pasolini took a powerful and immediate approach, with no false piety or sentimentality. Employing a cast drawn largely from the peasantry of Southern Italy, where the film was shot, the action has the feel of a mystery play reenacted for the camera. Enrique Irazoqui's Christ is part folk hero, part political agitator, but always pursuing his destiny with unswerving conviction. The disciples make for vivid contrasts in facial expression, while Susanna Pasolini (mother of) is unforgettable as Mary, distraught at the Crucifixion. The recourse to handheld cameras and zoom sequences is well ahead of its time, while the almost jump-cut editing and diverse soundtrack--including Bach, Mozart and the Missa Luba--enhance the sense of action being experienced as it happens. A classic of post-war cinema which has lost none of its urgent humanity. --Richard Whitehouse

Salo - Criterion Collection

A loose adaptation of the Marquis de Sade's The 120 Days of Sodom, Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salò is perhaps the most disturbing and disgusting film ever made. It is also one of the most important, offering a blistering critique of fascism and idealism that suggests moral redemption may be nothing but a myth. Criterion presents Salò in its uncut, uncensored version.

Mamma Roma - Criterion Collection

Combining the immediacy of Italian neorealism with potent criticism of post-war Italian society, Mamma Roma is one of Pier Paolo Pasolini's most accessible and satisfying films. This was only his second feature, but Pasolini (who was mysteriously murdered in 1975) was already demonstrating a powerful affinity for cinema as a forum for his anti-Fascist ideology. To express his outrage at the spiritual vacancy of vulgar consumerism, Pasolini cast the great Anna Magnani in the title role, a former prostitute struggling to transcend her sordid past in a desperate attempt to give her estranged teenage son the better life she never had. In Pasolini's worldview, Mamma's petit bourgeois idealism can only be doomed, and the film assumes the melodramatic thrust of tragic opera. Like most of Pasolini's films, Mamma Roma attracted controversy, but it was nothing compared to the outcry over "La ricotta," a 35-minute short featuring Orson Welles (part of the 1963 anthology film RoGoPaG, and included here for the first time on DVD). Seized and condemned "for insulting the religion of the state," "La ricotta" presents the crucifixion of Christ as an incendiary criticism of the Catholic Church, in which the actor playing Jesus stuffs himself with ricotta cheese and dies from indigestion on the cross!

As usual, Criterion has done an exemplary job of assembling a wealth of supplementary materials. Pasolini's films demand at least rudimentary understanding of his life and politics, and that background is provided through new interviews with former collaborators, a clip-laden 1995 documentary about Pasolini's career, and a 32-page booklet containing excerpts of interviews from the out-of-print book Pasolini on Pasolini, along with a mini-essay on Mamma Roma that further illuminates the film in the context of Pasolini's controversial career. For anyone interested in Pasolini's art, this two-disc set provides a suitable starting point, offering important films and scholarly study in the esteemed Criterion tradition. --Jeff Shannon

Anna Magnani is Mamma Roma, a middle-aged prostitute who attempts to extricate herself from her sordid past for the sake of her son. Filmed in the great tradition of Italian neorealism, Mamma Roma offers an unflinching look at the struggle for survival in postwar Italy, and highlights director Pier Paolo Pasolini#s lifelong fascination with the marginalized and dispossessed. Though banned upon its release in Italy for obscenity, today Mamma Roma is considered a classic: a glimpse at a country#s most controversial director in the process of finding his style and a powerhouse performance by one of cinema#s greatest actresses.

Bible Time Favorites

Accatone

The first of Pier Paolo Pasolini's highly acclaimed films, and the winner of numerous film festival prizes, ACCATONE uses a talented cast to present a vivid picture of the Roman slums. Based on one of the filmmaker/poet's novels, this story of a pimp, his friends, his enemies and his girls is realism at its earthiest. It is brutal, realistic, unsentimental and bustiling with life. Particularly effective is the use of Bach on the soundtrack which provides ironic counterpoint to the world of pimps, prostitutes and street fighters.

Oedipus Rex

A dark and riveting retelling of the classic Greek tragedy "Oedipus Rex". Unknown to himself, Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother. When the truth is discovered, he puts out his eyes and Oedipus wanders the streets until he is found by his daughter, Antigone, a common blind beggar. Set in Morocco, the film is a visual wonder of desert landscapes and powerful Moorish architecture. The interesting cast include avant garde film and theater director Carmelo Bene, Julian Beck from New York's Living theater, and Pasolini himself as the High Priest. This remastered version is a must for any serious video collector.

The Gospel According to St. Matthew

Released in 1964, The Gospel According to St. Matthew marks an important shift away from the gritty urban realism of Pasolini's earlier films towards the visionary imagery of his later work. A committed but far from conformist Marxist, Pasolini took a powerful and immediate approach, with no false piety or sentimentality. Employing a cast drawn largely from the peasantry of Southern Italy, where the film was shot, the action has the feel of a mystery play reenacted for the camera. Enrique Irazoqui's Christ is part folk hero, part political agitator, but always pursuing his destiny with unswerving conviction. The disciples make for vivid contrasts in facial expression, while Susanna Pasolini (mother of) is unforgettable as Mary, distraught at the Crucifixion. The recourse to handheld cameras and zoom sequences is well ahead of its time, while the almost jump-cut editing and diverse soundtrack--including Bach, Mozart and the Missa Luba--enhance the sense of action being experienced as it happens. A classic of post-war cinema which has lost none of its urgent humanity. --Richard Whitehouse

The birth, life, teachings, and death on the cross of Jesus Christ presented almost as a cine-verite documentary. Pasolini's second feature seemed a strange choice for such a revolutionary director, but it is an attempt to take Christ out of the opulent church and present him as an outcast Italian peasant. Applying Neo-Realist methods, the director shot the film in Calabria, using the expressive faces of the non professionals including that of his motoher as the Virgin Mary. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW is considered the greatest screen version of the 'greatest story ever told' and this freshly remastered version brings the film to life in a way that has never been seen before.

Love and Anger

A woman is raped outside a tenement while her neighbors tune out the screams with their TVs… an avant-garde theatre troupe enacts the Death of God and the annihilation of the human race… a smiling Italian youth cavorts on a Rome thoroughfare while bombs explode around the world… two couples discuss war and revolution in an idyllic rooftop garden… a professor leads his students in a mock debate about Vietnam that threatens to escalate into genuine bloodshed…

Like the visions of a fickle television viewer switching channels from escapist violence to newscast genocide to political debate, LOVE AND ANGER brings together the talents of world class filmmakers Academy Award® winner Bernardo Bertolucci (THE LAST EMPEROR), Marco Bellocchio (DEVIL IN THE FLESH), Pier Paolo Pasolini (SALO`), Carlo Lizzani (THE LAST DAYS OF MUSSOSLINI) and French Nouvelle Vague pioneer Jean-Luc Godard (BAND OF OUTSIDERS) to tell five thematically linked stories of love, anger and indifference at the end of the 20th Century.

Nominated for the Golden Bear Award at the 1969 Berlin Film Festival, LOVE AND ANGER is a portmanteau film in the tradition of DEAD OF NIGHT and NEW YORK STORIES and features a one-time-only assortment of performers including Nino Castelnuovo (ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS), Andy Warhol Factory member Tom Baker (BLOW JOB) and The Living Theatre founders Julian Beck (POLTERGEIST II) and Judith Malina (THE ADDAMS FAMILY).

An obscure title in the resumes of all involved, LOVE AND ANGER is a time capsule of hopes and fears during the turbulent Vietnam era. NoShame Films is proud to present the film's DVD premiere in an uncut, deluxe 2-disc that includes 80 minutes of recent interviews with Marco Bellocchio and Carlo Lizzani, as well as assistant director Maurizio Ponzi and editor Roberto Perpignani.

The Hawks and the Sparrows (Uccellacci e Uccellini)

THE HAWKS AND THE SPARROWS, a wild comic fable, stars the beloved stone faced clown Toto as an Italian everyman, and Ninetto Davoli as his good natured but empty headed son. Pasolini uses a comic crow, which philosophizes amusingly and pointedly about the passing scene, as a counterpoint to the performers, representing humanity, as they progress down the road of life. Pasolini presents a tragic fable which shows two delightful innocents caught, like many Italians, between the Church and Marxism.