Pasolini's
Theorem in September
30
August 2007
A
shoddy and confusing mess or the greatest film of
one of cinema's most distinctive talents? Opinions
certainly differ wildly on Pier Paolo Pasolini's
1968 Theorem, described by Time
Out as the director's "most perfect fusion
of Marxism and religion" but by Glenn Erickson
over at DVD Savant as "schematic and empty."
Not one you're likely to sit on the fence over,
then.
A
handsome, enigmatic stranger (Terence Stamp) arrives
at a bourgeois household in Milan and successively
seduces the son, the mother, the daughter and the
father, not forgetting the maid. Then, as abruptly
and mysteriously as he arrived, he departs. Unable
to endure the void left in their lives, the father
(Massimo Girotti) hands over his factory to the
workers, the son (Andrès José Cruz)
abandons his vocation as a painter, the mother (Silvana
Mangano) abandons herself to random sexual encounters,
and the daughter sinks into catatonia. The maid
(Laura Betti, winner Best Actress, Venice 1968),
however, becomes a saint.
Theorem
is provocative political allegory in which Pasolini
explores family dynamics, the intersection of class
and sex, and the nature of different sexualities.
After winning a prize at the Venice Festival, Theorem
was subsequently banned on an obscenity charge,
but Pasolini later won an acquittal on grounds of
the film’s 'high artistic value'.
A
visually ravishing film, with superb performances
from all the cast, it also has a brilliantly eclectic
soundtrack - with music ranging from Mozart and
Morricone to the natural sound of chirping birds.
You'll
soon get the chance to judge for yourself when the
film is released on UK DVD for the first time by
the BFI. Featuring a new, high definition 1.85:1
anamorphic transfer with restored picture and sound,
the disc will also contain the following special
features:
- Feature
commentary by Italian film expert Robert Gordon;
- Exclusive
filmed interviewed with Terence Stamp.
The
disc will be released by the BFI on 24 September
2007 at the RRP of £19.99
