- Born
- Died
- Height5′ 5¾″ (1.67 m)
- Pier Paolo Pasolini achieved fame and notoriety long before he entered
the film industry. A published poet at 19, he had already written
numerous novels and essays before his first screenplay in 1954. His
first film Accattone (1961) was based on his own novel and its violent depiction
of the life of a pimp in the slums of Rome caused a sensation. He was
arrested in 1962 when his contribution to the portmanteau film Ro.Go.Pa.G. (1963)
was considered blasphemous and given a suspended sentence. It might
have been expected that his next film, The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964) (The Gospel According to
St. Matthew), which presented the Biblical story in a totally
realistic, stripped-down style, would cause a similar fuss but, in
fact, it was rapturously acclaimed as one of the few honest portrayals
of Christ on screen. Its original Italian title pointedly omitted the
Saint in St. Matthew). Pasolini's film career would then alternate
distinctly personal and often scandalously erotic adaptations of
classic literary texts: Oedipus Rex (1967) (Oedipus Rex); The Decameron (1971); The Canterbury Tales (1972) (The
Canterbury Tales); Arabian Nights (1974) (Arabian Nights), with his own more personal
projects, expressing his controversial views on Marxism, atheism,
fascism and homosexuality, notably Teorema (1968) (Theorem), Pigsty and the
notorious Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975), a relentlessly grim fusion of Benito Mussolini's Fascist
Italy with the 'Marquis de Sade' which was banned in Italy and many other
countries for several years. Pasolini was murdered in still-mysterious
circumstances shortly after completing the film.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Michael Brooke <michael@everyman.demon.co.uk>
- ParentsCarlo Alberto Pasolini
- RelativesNico Naldini(Cousin)
- Natural lighting
- Non-professional actors
- Marxist representation
- Short takes
- Son of a soldier who became famous for saving Benito Mussolini's life.
Ironically, Pasolini was a strong anti-fascist. - Member of the Italian Communist Party from 1947 to 1949. He was expelled because of his homosexuality.
- Was murdered shortly before the release of his controversial art film Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975). Though Giuseppe "Pino" Pelosi, a 17 year-old hustler was arrested for the murder after being caught with Pasolini's car and confessing to the murder, to this day the case remains unsolved. In 2005, Pelosi revealed that Pasolini was killed by three men linked to political groups opposed to the director's films and politics. The case was briefly reopened and later dismissed due to lack of evidence. Another story revolves around Pasolini meeting with extortionists who stole footage from Salò.
- Pasolini began writing poetry at the age of 7. From the age of ten, he
wrote poetry in the old language of "Friulan", which was spoken by peasants and his mother, Susanna Pasolini. - Owned an old castle in Viterbo, north of Rome.
- The mark which has dominated all my work is the longing for life, this
sense of exclusion, which doesn't lessen, but augments this love of
life. - [on atheism] If you know that I am an unbeliever, then you know me
better than I do myself. I may be an unbeliever, but I am an unbeliever
who has a nostalgia for a belief. (1966) - [on Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)] My film shows the sinister connection between consumerism and Nazism.
- I think that consumerism manipulates and violates bodies neither more nor less than Nazism.
- I love life fiercely, even desperately. I believe that this ferocity and this desperation will only lead to my destruction. I love the sun, the grass, the youth. It has become for me a vice more terrible than cocaine. I devour my existence with an insatiable appetite. How will all of this end? I don't know.
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