Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini

Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini

10 Episodes

Pier Paolo Pasolini’s ability to simultaneously embrace conflicting philosophies—he drew from Marxism and Catholicism; and he lived a thoroughly modern, openly gay life while looking to the distant past for inspiration and comfort—was matched by the multifariousness of his artistic output as a filmmaker, poet, journalist, novelist, playwright, painter, actor, and all-around public intellectual. Outside Italy, though, he remains best known for his restless and subversive body of film work. After scripting the sly sexual satire IL BELL’ANTONIO, he soon moved to directing, applying Catholic iconography to gutter-level tales of street life like MAMMA ROMA, which gave Anna Magnani one of her greatest roles as a middle-aged sex worker. From there, the outspoken and always political Pasolini’s films became increasingly scandalous—even, to some minds, blasphemous—from the Orson Welles–starring short LA RICOTTA and the stark reimagining of the Christ story THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW to the shocking savagery of PORCILE and the extravagantly bawdy medieval tales in his Trilogy of Life (THE DECAMERON, THE CANTERBURY TALES, ARABIAN NIGHTS). Though Pasolini’s career was cut tragically short by his brutal, still-unsolved murder, he remains—one hundred years after his birth—one of the most revered and controversial artists of the twentieth century.

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Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini

10 Episodes

  • Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini Teaser
    01:03
    Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini Teaser
    Episode 1

    Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini Teaser

    Episode 1

  • Il bell’Antonio
    1:43:02
    Il bell’Antonio
    Episode 2

    Il bell’Antonio

    Episode 2

    Directed by Mauro Bolognini • 1960 • Italy, France
    Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Pierre Brasseur

    Scripted by Pier Paolo Pasolini, IL BELL’ANTONIO is a barbed, melodramatic satire of religion, sex, and society that gives Marcello Mastroianni a chance to play slyly against his ...

  • Accattone
    1:57:30
    Accattone
    Episode 3

    Accattone

    Episode 3

    Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini • 1961 • Italy
    Starring Franco Citti, Franca Pasut, Silvana Corsini

    Poet and painter turned filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini courted controversy with his very first feature by using Catholic iconography and liturgical music to render a plaintive, brutally beautiful p...

  • Mamma Roma
    1:47:10
    Mamma Roma
    Episode 4

    Mamma Roma

    Episode 4

    Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini • 1962 • Italy
    Starring Anna Magnani, Ettore Garofolo, Franco Citti

    Anna Magnani is Mamma Roma, a middle-aged prostitute who attempts to extricate herself from her sordid past for the sake of her son. Highlighting director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s lifelong fascinatio...

  • Love Meetings
    1:33:12
    Love Meetings
    Episode 5

    Love Meetings

    Episode 5

    Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini • 1964 • Italy
    Starring Pier Paolo Pasolini, Lello Bersani

    Let’s talk about sex. In this radically engaged and engaging documentary, Pier Paolo Pasolini takes to the streets, town squares, beaches, factories, and universities of 1960s Italy to solicit everyday cit...

  • The Gospel According to Matthew
    2:17:51
    The Gospel According to Matthew
    Episode 6

    The Gospel According to Matthew

    Episode 6

    Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini • 1964 • Italy, France
    Starring Enrique Irazoqui, Margherita Caruso, Susanna Pasolini

    A biblical epic that only the Marxist dissident Pier Paolo Pasolini could make, this intensely faithful adaptation of Saint Matthew’s Gospel depicts the life and teachings of Jes...

  • The Hawks and the Sparrows
    1:29:42
    The Hawks and the Sparrows
    Episode 7

    The Hawks and the Sparrows

    Episode 7

    Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini • 1966 • Italy
    Starring Totò, Ninetto Davoli, Femi Benussi

    While wandering the countryside, a pair of father-and-son vagabonds (played respectively by Italian cinema legend Totò, in his final major film role, and Ninetto Davoli) happen upon a talking crow who spou...

  • Teorema
    1:38:45
    Teorema
    Episode 8

    Teorema

    Episode 8

    Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini • 1968 • Italy
    Starring Terence Stamp, Silvana Mangano, Massimo Girotti

    One of the iconoclastic Pier Paolo Pasolini’s most radical provocations finds the auteur moving beyond the poetic, proletarian earthiness that first won him renown and notoriety with a coolly ...

  • Porcile
    1:38:49
    Porcile
    Episode 9

    Porcile

    Episode 9

    Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini • 1969 • Italy, France
    Starring Pierre Clémenti, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Alberto Lionello

    “I killed my father. I ate human flesh. I quiver with joy.” Provocateur Pier Paolo Pasolini is at his most incendiary in PORCILE (“Pigsty”), a double-edged allegory on fascism, co...

  • La ricotta
    35:44
    La ricotta
    Episode 10

    La ricotta

    Episode 10

    Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini • 1962 • Italy
    Starring Orson Welles

    Pier Paolo Pasolini’s contribution to the omnibus film RO.GO.PA.G casts Orson Welles as a director attempting to make a film of the crucifixion of Jesus—all while he, the cast, and crew behave in the most un-Christlike ways ima...

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