Pier Paolo Pasolini

Directing

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Born 1922-03-05 · Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Pier Paolo Pasolini (March 5, 1922 – November 2, 1975) was an Italian film director, poet, writer, and intellectual. Pasolini distinguished himself as a poet, journalist, philosopher, linguist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, newspaper and magazine columnist, actor, painter and political figure. He demonstrated a unique and extraordinary cultural versatility, becoming a highly controversial figure in the process.

Acting credits

The Canterbury Tales poster
6.1

Glimpses of Chaucer penning his famous work are sprinkled through this re-enactment of several of his stories.

The Canterbury Tales

1972

The Decameron poster
6.8

A young Sicilian is swindled twice, but ends up rich; a man poses as a deaf-mute in a convent of curious nuns; a woman must hide her lover when her husband comes home early; a scoundrel fools a priest on his deathbed; three brothers take revenge on their sister's lover; a young girl sleeps on the roof to meet her boyfriend at night; a group of painters wait for inspiration; a crafty priest attempts to seduce his friend's wife; and two friends make a pact to find out what happens after death.

The Decameron

1971

Oedipus Rex poster
6.8

In pre-war Italy, a young couple have a baby boy. The father, however, is jealous of his son - and the scene moves to antiquity, where the baby is taken into the desert to be killed. He is rescued, given the name Oedipus, and brought up by the King and Queen of Corinth as their son. One day an oracle informs Oedipus that he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Horrified, he flees Corinth and his supposed parents - only to get into a fight and kill an older man on the road…

Oedipus Rex

1967

Morceaux de Cannes poster
2.0

We thought we'd seen, read, and heard everything there was to see about the Cannes Film Festival, from the glitz and gossip to the scandals and censorship. And yet, Emmanuel Barnault's "Morceaux de Cannes" (Pieces of Cannes), by this leading expert on Italian and French cinema, convinces us otherwise. The third largest event in the world (after the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup) reveals its secrets only sparingly, as this film attests. The result of passionate research in the INA archives, these 52 minutes, without interviews or voice-over narration, string together rare and sometimes previously unseen footage. Taken together, they tell a surprising, original, and heartwarming story of the Festival. On the beach, on a street corner, in a restaurant, or in the privacy of a hotel room, these forgotten archives summon the greatest filmmakers, actors, and actresses of the last seventy years, from Jean Cocteau to David Lynch, for an anthology of the Festival's history.

Morceaux de Cannes

2021

The Isle of Medea poster
4.8

On the 40th anniversary of the death of Maria Callas (September 16, 1977), with footage never seen before from Pier Paolo Pasolini's film MEDEA, this film celebrates the genius and sensibility of two icons of the XX century.

The Isle of Medea

2016

Salò: Yesterday and Today poster
5.0

A thirty-three-minute documentary featuring interviews with director Pier Paolo Pasolini, actor-filmmaker Jean-Claude Biette, and Pasolini friend Ninetto Davoli.

Salò: Yesterday and Today

2002

Callas Assoluta poster
6.5

This revealing documentary from director Philippe Kohly examines the storied life of renowned soprano Maria Callas, from her troubled childhood in New York City to her scandal-laden but triumphant international career in opera. Featuring archival interviews with Callas herself and footage of contemporaries such as her lover Aristotle Onassis, this celebration of "La Divina" pays tribute to her enduring legacy some three decades after her death.

Callas Assoluta

2007

Proust Palimpsesto: Pastiches e Misturas poster
NR

"Proust Palimpsesto: Pastiches e Misturas" (2026) is a Brazilian film essay directed by Carlos Adriano. The film, which explores the impossibility of filming Marcel Proust's "In Search of Time That Flew", is presented as a collage of archival images and theories.

Proust Palimpsesto: Pastiches e Misturas

2026

Arruso poster
4.0

In relation to some of Pasolini's visits to Palermo for this last film, in 2000 Ciprì and Maresco shot Arruso, which begins with a phrase by Pasolini ("I banished the word hope from my vocabulary") and consists of imaginary interviews with some local characters who are presumed to have had homosexual relationships with the director. The two record the testimonies, sometimes affectionate others less, of those who had the opportunity to meet him and know the trends on the occasion of that trip.

Arruso

2000

Kill and Pray poster
6.4

A Mexican community is slaughtered by Confederate troops; the lone survivor, a boy, is taken in by a preacher. Years later, the boy is now a soft-spoken, devout young man with perfect shooting skills (despite being a pacifist). On his journey to help his half-sister out of a complicated situation, he crosses paths with the men who killed his family, unbeknownst to him.

Kill and Pray

1967

Love Meetings poster
8.2

Pier Paolo Pasolini sets out to interview Italians about sex, apparently their least favorite thing to talk about in public: he asks children if they know where babies come from; asks old and young women if they support gender equality; asks both sexes if a woman's virginity still matters, what do they think of homosexuality, if divorce should be legal, or if they support the recent abolition of brothels. He interviews blue-collar workers, intellectuals, college students, rural farmers, the bourgeoisie, and every other kind of people, painting a vivid portrait of a rapidly-industrializing Italy, hanging between modernity and tradition — toward both of which Pasolini shows equal distrust.

Love Meetings

1965

Cinéma et Réalité poster
6.5

In this documentary, giants of italian cinema such as Rossellini, De Sica, Fellini and Zavattini talk about the importance of cinema after WW2, and about huge moments of social rebellion. This movie gives the floor to the creators of italian neorealism.

Cinéma et Réalité

1967

Histoire(s) du Cinéma 3a: The Coin of the Absolute poster
6.5

Part 5 of Godard's 8 part examination of the history of the concept of cinema and how it relates to the 20th century.

Histoire(s) du Cinéma 3a: The Coin of the Absolute

2006

Il falso bugiardo poster
NR

Based upon Vincenzoni's biography, "Pane e cinema", the documentary traces the story of the screen play writer who invented many stories that became blockbusters throughout the world.

Il falso bugiardo

2008

Federico Fellini's Autobiography poster
6.4

Federico Fellini was one of the most individual and thought provoking directors who based most of his films upon his own reflections, dreams, life events and fantasies, who did not convey any special message for humanity but regarded cinema simply as entertainment. Is there an answer to everything? Can it possibly be? If yes, then life can no longer be so curious, so dynamic, so creative...

Federico Fellini's Autobiography

2000

imagenaction poster
NR

The confrontation of reality and dream.

imagenaction

2024

My Name Is Anna Magnani poster
8.7

Traces the life of Anna Magnani, her creations, her successes, her triumphs, her boycotted career, her nonconformism, her anxieties, her generosity ... Punctuated with photos that tell her career in theater and cinema, Extracts of films, this documentary portrait also gives the floor to his friends and relatives, from Roberto Rossellini to Marcello Mastroianni, through Federico Fellini.

My Name Is Anna Magnani

1980

The Hunchback poster
6.6

Alvaro Cosenza, also known as the Hunchback from Quarticciolo, during Rome's occupation by Nazis in 1943, decides to revolt.

The Hunchback

1960

Der Sanfte Radikale poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Der Sanfte Radikale

2005

Once Upon a Time: Tonino Delli Colli, Cinematographer poster
NR

A documentary about Tonino Delli Colli, a man of cinema and cinematography, and one of the greatest performers of the Arte della Luce and of photography in movement.

Once Upon a Time: Tonino Delli Colli, Cinematographer

2019

Pier Paolo Pasolini - Agnès Varda - New York - 1967 poster
7.5

Holding her 16mm camera, an optical prosthesis for a 20th-century stroller, Agnès Varda filmed 42nd Street in NYC in 1967, filming crowds of passers-by to the beat of the Doors. Recovered from the French director's boxes, with images of Varda, Pasolini and New York. Pasolini is shown walking in the Big Apple (where he went to present 'Hawks and Sparrows').

Pier Paolo Pasolini - Agnès Varda - New York - 1967

2022

Vor mir der Süden poster
7.7

3,700 km of coastline, a Fiat 1100, and an old travel diary, those are the ingredients for Pepe Danquart’s documentary. Following the footsteps of the great Italian thinker Pier Paolo Pasolini, the filmmaker gains a deep insight into the social reality of present-day Italy. The country is massively affected by globalization, migration and the phenomenon of mass tourism, which, more than ever, is characterised by the same hedonistic conformity that Pasolini lamented more than fifty years ago. Ahead of me the South is a poetic contemporary document, a kaleidoscopic picture of the Italy of today.

Vor mir der Süden

2021

Bellissimo: Images of the Italian Cinema poster
9.0

A documentary about the Italian cinema as art form and industry.

Bellissimo: Images of the Italian Cinema

1985

Backstage on the Set of Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom poster
NR

A journey behind the shooting on the set of Salò, a backstage by Gideon Bachman, recorded during the realization of the torture scenes, enriched by long interviews with actors.

Backstage on the Set of Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

1975

Behind the camera

La Dolce Vita poster
8.0

Episodic journey of journalist Marcello who struggles to find his place in the world, torn between the allure of Rome's elite social scene and the stifling domesticity offered by his girlfriend, all the while searching for a way to become a serious writer.

La Dolce Vita

1960

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom poster
6.3

Four corrupted fascist libertines round up 9 teenage boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of sadistic physical, mental and sexual torture.

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

1976

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom poster
6.3

Four corrupted fascist libertines round up 9 teenage boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of sadistic physical, mental and sexual torture.

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

1976

Theorem poster
7.0

A wealthy Italian household is turned upside down when a handsome stranger arrives, seduces every family member and then disappears. Each has an epiphany of sorts, but none can figure out who the seductive visitor was or why he came.

Theorem

1968

Theorem poster
7.0

A wealthy Italian household is turned upside down when a handsome stranger arrives, seduces every family member and then disappears. Each has an epiphany of sorts, but none can figure out who the seductive visitor was or why he came.

Theorem

1968

Nights of Cabiria poster
8.0

Rome, 1957. A woman, Cabiria, is robbed and left to drown by her boyfriend, Giorgio. Rescued, she resumes her life and tries her best to find happiness in a cynical world. Even when she thinks her struggles are over and she has found happiness and contentment, things may not be what they seem.

Nights of Cabiria

1957

The Canterbury Tales poster
6.1

Glimpses of Chaucer penning his famous work are sprinkled through this re-enactment of several of his stories.

The Canterbury Tales

1972

The Canterbury Tales poster
6.1

Glimpses of Chaucer penning his famous work are sprinkled through this re-enactment of several of his stories.

The Canterbury Tales

1972

The Decameron poster
6.8

A young Sicilian is swindled twice, but ends up rich; a man poses as a deaf-mute in a convent of curious nuns; a woman must hide her lover when her husband comes home early; a scoundrel fools a priest on his deathbed; three brothers take revenge on their sister's lover; a young girl sleeps on the roof to meet her boyfriend at night; a group of painters wait for inspiration; a crafty priest attempts to seduce his friend's wife; and two friends make a pact to find out what happens after death.

The Decameron

1971

The Decameron poster
6.8

A young Sicilian is swindled twice, but ends up rich; a man poses as a deaf-mute in a convent of curious nuns; a woman must hide her lover when her husband comes home early; a scoundrel fools a priest on his deathbed; three brothers take revenge on their sister's lover; a young girl sleeps on the roof to meet her boyfriend at night; a group of painters wait for inspiration; a crafty priest attempts to seduce his friend's wife; and two friends make a pact to find out what happens after death.

The Decameron

1971

Oedipus Rex poster
6.8

In pre-war Italy, a young couple have a baby boy. The father, however, is jealous of his son - and the scene moves to antiquity, where the baby is taken into the desert to be killed. He is rescued, given the name Oedipus, and brought up by the King and Queen of Corinth as their son. One day an oracle informs Oedipus that he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Horrified, he flees Corinth and his supposed parents - only to get into a fight and kill an older man on the road…

Oedipus Rex

1967

Oedipus Rex poster
6.8

In pre-war Italy, a young couple have a baby boy. The father, however, is jealous of his son - and the scene moves to antiquity, where the baby is taken into the desert to be killed. He is rescued, given the name Oedipus, and brought up by the King and Queen of Corinth as their son. One day an oracle informs Oedipus that he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Horrified, he flees Corinth and his supposed parents - only to get into a fight and kill an older man on the road…

Oedipus Rex

1967

Arabian Nights poster
6.5

The final part of Pasolini's Trilogy of Life series is rich with exotic tales of slaves and kings, potions, betrayals, demons and, most of all, love and lovemaking in all its myriad forms. Mysterious and liberating, this is an exquisitely dreamlike and adult interpretation of the original folk tales.

Arabian Nights

1974

Arabian Nights poster
6.5

The final part of Pasolini's Trilogy of Life series is rich with exotic tales of slaves and kings, potions, betrayals, demons and, most of all, love and lovemaking in all its myriad forms. Mysterious and liberating, this is an exquisitely dreamlike and adult interpretation of the original folk tales.

Arabian Nights

1974

The Witches poster
6.0

Five short stories loosely dealing with the roles of women in society. A superstar actress travels to a mountain resort, only to evoke jealousy from women and lust from men. A woman offers to take an injured man to the hospital. A widowed father and his son seek for a new wife/mother. A man seeks revenge for a woman's honor. A bored housewife tries to explain to her husband that he's not as romantic as he used to be.

The Witches

1967

The Witches poster
6.0

Five short stories loosely dealing with the roles of women in society. A superstar actress travels to a mountain resort, only to evoke jealousy from women and lust from men. A woman offers to take an injured man to the hospital. A widowed father and his son seek for a new wife/mother. A man seeks revenge for a woman's honor. A bored housewife tries to explain to her husband that he's not as romantic as he used to be.

The Witches

1967

Mamma Roma poster
7.9

After years spent working as a prostitute in her Italian village, middle-aged Mamma Roma has saved enough money to buy herself a fruit stand so that she can have a respectable middle-class life and reestablish contact with the 16-year-old son she abandoned when he was an infant. But her former pimp threatens to expose her sordid past, and her troubled son seems destined to fall into a life of crime and violence.

Mamma Roma

1962

Mamma Roma poster
7.9

After years spent working as a prostitute in her Italian village, middle-aged Mamma Roma has saved enough money to buy herself a fruit stand so that she can have a respectable middle-class life and reestablish contact with the 16-year-old son she abandoned when he was an infant. But her former pimp threatens to expose her sordid past, and her troubled son seems destined to fall into a life of crime and violence.

Mamma Roma

1962

The Gospel According to St. Matthew poster
7.4

Along a rocky, barren coastline, Jesus begins teaching, primarily using parables. He attracts disciples; he's stern, brusque, and demanding. His parables often take on the powers that be, so he and his teachings come to the attention of the Pharisees, the chief priests, and elders. They conspire to have him arrested, beaten, tried, and crucified, just as he prophesied to his followers.

The Gospel According to St. Matthew

1965

The Gospel According to St. Matthew poster
7.4

Along a rocky, barren coastline, Jesus begins teaching, primarily using parables. He attracts disciples; he's stern, brusque, and demanding. His parables often take on the powers that be, so he and his teachings come to the attention of the Pharisees, the chief priests, and elders. They conspire to have him arrested, beaten, tried, and crucified, just as he prophesied to his followers.

The Gospel According to St. Matthew

1965

Medea poster
6.6

Based on the plot of Euripides' Medea. Medea centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed her for another woman.

Medea

1969

Medea poster
6.6

Based on the plot of Euripides' Medea. Medea centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed her for another woman.

Medea

1969

Accattone poster
7.7

A pimp with no other means to provide for himself finds his life spiralling out of control when his prostitute is sent to prison.

Accattone

1961

Accattone poster
7.7

A pimp with no other means to provide for himself finds his life spiralling out of control when his prostitute is sent to prison.

Accattone

1961