SCFZ poll: Pier Paolo Pasolini

[thoxans]

sidenote: xavier dolan ripped off mamma roma big time with mommy and yet i've never seen the glaring comparison brought up elsewhere

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

I have only seen it once, quite a long time ago, in a tiny movie club in Beirut that was run by the Communist party.

Damn, that sounds like the best possible way to encounter a movie.

[kanafani]

I have only seen it once, quite a long time ago, in a tiny movie club in Beirut that was run by the Communist party.

Damn, that sounds like the best possible way to encounter a movie.

I still remember it quite vividly. It was a small room in the basement of some old building, the chairs were uncomfortable, and they projected it off a battered VHS tape. There were not too many people there, and half of them left once the sadists got down to the real business. It still affected me pretty strongly in spite of the far from ideal viewing circumstances. One of my favorite going-out-to-the-movies experiences.

[MayaDeren_fan]

For those voting Salo #1 (two of you so far!), you enjoy it as a comedy or a serious and harrowing work? Or somewhere in between? I feel like it's supposed to be some condemnation of power structures (especially the church obviously), but I couldn't help laughing out loud (only one at the cinema doing so) when I watched it...I also have a tiiiiiny sadistic streak tho ^.^

I won't be voting since I have only seen Salo by Pasolini (very much want to see Teorema). But to answer you question, it's a slight mix of both, though the bulk of my appreciation of the film is viewing it as the darkest of comedies. The Divine Comedy-esque structuring is also pretty good too, love how it's just a descent into the depths of human evil under the vein of sadism. The whole anti-fascist schtick is good also, but for me, I think of Salo as a comedy first and foremost; probably since it's funnier than most true comedy films.

[john ryan]

Seen 13

1. The Gospel According to Matthew
2. Medea
3. Mamma Roma
4. Arabian Nights
5. Oedipus Rex

[brian d]

all this description of salò as a comedy makes me wonder if i should watch it again. it's not a comedy in a divine comedy sense (not to say that it doesn't have a connection to dante, and pasolini's the divine mimesis was modeled on dante so there is a definite link there). i only saw it once and thought that's plenty, but maybe?

...nah.

[...]

My take has been that if Salo is something people want to watch more than once it suggests the movie has problems in matching its aesthetics to its politics. An enjoyable Salo verges on being either contradictory in meaning or a hypocritical audience critique.

[MayaDeren_fan]

Idk, I enjoyed Salo. I will admit that the second circle goes on for a little too long, but really that's my only reservation. The visuals are also pretty in my opinion, which I guess could be a puzzling contradiction; as the visuals have a oddly appealing cold look to them, while the images depicted are full-out despicable.

[greennui]

I really need to rewatch Salo, haven't seen it since I was about 15 so could really use an updated assessment. I'd also like to catch a glimpse of the two actresses from Paul Vecchiali's Femmes femmes. Pasolini liked the film and their performances so much that he decided to cast them in Salo.

[rischka]

i've never watched salo and often thought i never would but with the modern trend toward fascism i may have to reconsider >:(

[St. Gloede]

Seen 15:

1. Teorema (1968)
2. Edipo re / Oedipus Rex (1967/I)
3. Salo (1975)
4. Medea (1969)
5. Il Vangelo secondo Matteo (1964)

[pabs]

Seen 5

1. Medea
2. The Gospel According to Matthew

[Joks Trois]

My take has been that if Salo is something people want to watch more than once it suggests the movie has problems in matching its aesthetics to its politics. An enjoyable Salo verges on being either contradictory in meaning or a hypocritical audience critique.

I like Pasolini, but I really think a lot of film buffs have fallen for the hype and have mistaken myth for reality.

Salo was a film that Pasolini made out of pure spite and resentment. He didn't get the social revolution he wanted, so he created a bitter reactionary film in response. He is a classic textbook example of why you should never ever be an idealist, or at least why you should shake it off after your mid 20's at the very latest, but the film has many things going for it.

His Trilogy of Life films are terribly overrated. I'd rather watch Jancso's Private Vices Public Virtues any day over them. Canterbury Tales is like a Fellini film directed by Alfred E Newman.

Seen 12. My ranking:

1.The Gospel According To St.Matthew
2.Accattone
3.Teorema (Very dated, but still strangely watchable)
4.The Hawk and The Sparrows
5.Salo

[wba2]

sidenote: xavier dolan ripped off mamma roma big time with mommy and yet i've never seen the glaring comparison brought up elsewhere

I guess it's cause people who care about Mamma Roma couldn't care less about Xavier Dolan - and vice versa.

[Lencho of the Apes]

Parroting Pabs =--

Medea
Gospel According To Matthew

I think I've seen six.

[Flakotaso]

Seen 21. One of the greatest ever.

1. Saló
2. The Gospel According to Matthew
3. Oedipus Rex
4. Accattone
5. Mamma Roma

[Mysterious Dude]

I've seen 12.

1. Mamma Roma
2. The Gospel According to St. Matthew
3. The Decameron
4. Oedipus Rex
5. Medea

[wigwam]

seen 10, might try to watch Trilogy of Life before this closes but for now:

Teorema
Medea
La ricotta
Salo
Uccellacci e uccellini

[laternamagica]

Seen 8
1. Teorema
2. Edipo re
3. The Decameron

[flip]

results

1. The Gospel According to Matthew (1964) -- 40 pts
2. Teorema (1968) -- 35 pts
3. Medea (1969) -- 31 pts
4. Oedipus Rex (1967) -- 30 pts
5. Salo (1975) -- 27 pts
6. Arabian Nights (1974) -- 21 pts
7. Mamma Roma (1962) -- 18 pts
7. The Decameron (1971) -- 18 pts
9. Accatone (1961) -- 17 pts
10. Hawks and Sparrows (1966) -- 14 pts
11. La Ricotta (1963) -- 7 pts
12. Porcile (1969) -- 5 pts
13. The Earth Seen from the Moon (1967) -- 4 pts
14. Love Meetings (1964) -- 2 pts

[thoxans]

whoops. forgot to vote. but my vote wouldn't have made any diff anyways. democracy personified

[flip]

up at letterboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... -poll-117/