Abel Ferrara's Pasolini documents the final day in the life of Italian writer, poet, and director Pier Paolo Pasolini. The year was 1975, and Pasolini was on the defensive, with his latest film Salo, 120 Days of Sodom creating quite the stir among censors throughout the world. Returning home to his mother's house in Rome, the film is a reflective study of a complicated man that is bursting with admiration, although it doesn't quite succeed in being the reflective, homage to the important cinematic force that was Pasolini. Abel Ferrara's Pasolini is a unique biopic in that it doesn't try to tell the filmmakers life story, instead attempting to simply capture the essence of the man through a slice of life approach. Using an impending interview as a jumping off point, Ferrara's film is a cluttered but intriguing film that attempts to deconstruct this complicated man, pillaging his memories and admirations, attempting to deconstruct his creative process, and present his unique worldview in a atypical narrative. While this approach unintentionally leaves the biopic feeling convoluted, the Ferrara's admiration for Pasolini is pumping throughout the entire film, with the film feeling almost like a hodepodge of ancedotes about Pasolini instead of one focused feature. The film is essentially a jumbled portrait of Pasolini's philosophically ideas, that borders on incoherence, never fully effective and capturing the man himself. It's almost as if Abel Ferrara had too much to say, making the film unfocused due to its trying to personify such a complicated man's life.. With Pasolini, Ferrara attempts to illuminate the ideas of a filmmaker he greatly admired, not always succeeding, but providing a unique perspective into Pasolini that is to be respected.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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