Pasolini

I remember the reporting on the sordid killing of poet and director, Pier Paolo Pasolini but was stunned to learn it took place as long ago as 1975, just after the completion of Salo. The last day or so of Pasolini's life is told here in a fittingly realistic and dark way but with clips from that last (very difficult) film and newly shot sequences from the director's script for a newly proposed enterprise, once more mixing the magical the religious and downright dirty. Ferrara is, of course, as uncompromising man as his subject and this believable portrait is simply that rather than some flattering or ego boosting enterprise. Willem Dafoe's performance is quite amazing and the look he achieves quite uncanny, Having an Italian wife who adored Pasolini seems to have helped him with this but it is a truly astonishing performance within a very good film. Neither Ferrara nor Pasolini have produced work that is the easiest to enjoy but nor can either be ignored.

An observational glimpse on the last hours of the famed and controversial Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini, "Pasolini" is a glacial record of art and society in 1970s Italy. Willem Dafoe plays the complicated artist highlighting the man's torment and humanity. The real life Pasolini's oddball intensity is missing in this portrayal; rather, Dafoe embodies a reserved, cultured homosexual who lived the opposite worlds of cultivated society and the seamy underworld. Amidst this depiction is the backdrop of a turbulent Rome in the throes of political and social unrest. Being an Abel Ferrara flick there's nudity and some graphic sex (both straight and gay) that provides some chuckles and titillation. While not for everyone this highbrow and arty film serves as a compelling tribute to one of the most fascinating artistic figures of the 20th-Century.

Defoe is not demanded. A documentary would be more enjoyable, if this could be said.

I don't know what we're really 'spose to make of this film. Pasolin's life, routines are really interesting, and this is part so well covered, but I thought this would be like a biography, life story, not focusing on this area in the days, leading up to his unfortunate murder. Did appreciate excerpts of Salo movie at start, and Dafoe's performance is engaging, but having him speak American and not Italian english of just Italian is weird. There is a slight miscasting about Willem's performance, but again he delivers. Sadly the movie's end, stopped short, and was expecting a longer viewing. Bummer. Highly recommended, but not the story you expect to see and in my case as well, wanna see.

Although beautifully shot and well acted, this movie is fairly disappointing and inconclusive. It doesn't really say much about Pasolini and the oniric scenes just fall flat.