Angels, Guests and Sadists: On-Screen Poetry in the Cinema of Pier Paolo Pasolini
This article considers how poetry features in Pasolini’s cinema. It argues that the manner in which Pasolini films poetry provides insight into his theory of an affinity between poetry and film, and into more general judgements concerning social reality. The article begins with an analysis of the fi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Edinburgh University Press
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Film-Philosophy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/film.2023.0238 |
| _version_ | 1827783745284866048 |
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| author | Thomas Allen |
| author_facet | Thomas Allen |
| author_sort | Thomas Allen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article considers how poetry features in Pasolini’s cinema. It argues that the manner in which Pasolini films poetry provides insight into his theory of an affinity between poetry and film, and into more general judgements concerning social reality. The article begins with an analysis of the final sequence of Salò (1975) where I argue that Ezra Pound’s poetry provides a soundtrack for the spectacle of torture in which the film’s libertines engage. Following this, I consider Pasolini’s 1965 text “The Cinema of Poetry” and use this text as a way of reading the role played by a copy of Rimbaud’s collected poems in Teorema (Theorem, 1968). I then move to consider the relationship between oral recitation and text in Il decameron (The Decameron, 1971) and Il fiore della mille e una notte (The Arabian Nights, 1974). In doing this, I argue that one can observe a shift across these films whereby poetry and orality move from being a foundational moment for reciprocal community to being a vehicle for an ambiguous and violent fate. The article then considers the conspicuous presence of reading and writing within Salò before ending with a consideration of one scene towards the end of the film in which Pasolini appears to invest a recitation of the Gospel with a disruptive force that is otherwise lacking in his final film. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:53:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-57e675baf1c34e36aa4b129656e86aff |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1466-4615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:53:57Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Edinburgh University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Film-Philosophy |
| spelling | doaj.art-57e675baf1c34e36aa4b129656e86aff2023-10-25T13:29:54ZengEdinburgh University PressFilm-Philosophy1466-46152023-10-0127337740010.3366/film.2023.0238Angels, Guests and Sadists: On-Screen Poetry in the Cinema of Pier Paolo PasoliniThomas Allen0The American University of ParisThis article considers how poetry features in Pasolini’s cinema. It argues that the manner in which Pasolini films poetry provides insight into his theory of an affinity between poetry and film, and into more general judgements concerning social reality. The article begins with an analysis of the final sequence of Salò (1975) where I argue that Ezra Pound’s poetry provides a soundtrack for the spectacle of torture in which the film’s libertines engage. Following this, I consider Pasolini’s 1965 text “The Cinema of Poetry” and use this text as a way of reading the role played by a copy of Rimbaud’s collected poems in Teorema (Theorem, 1968). I then move to consider the relationship between oral recitation and text in Il decameron (The Decameron, 1971) and Il fiore della mille e una notte (The Arabian Nights, 1974). In doing this, I argue that one can observe a shift across these films whereby poetry and orality move from being a foundational moment for reciprocal community to being a vehicle for an ambiguous and violent fate. The article then considers the conspicuous presence of reading and writing within Salò before ending with a consideration of one scene towards the end of the film in which Pasolini appears to invest a recitation of the Gospel with a disruptive force that is otherwise lacking in his final film.https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/film.2023.0238Pasolinicinema of poetrysoundtrackreificationorality |
| spellingShingle | Thomas Allen Angels, Guests and Sadists: On-Screen Poetry in the Cinema of Pier Paolo Pasolini Film-Philosophy Pasolini cinema of poetry soundtrack reification orality |
| title | Angels, Guests and Sadists: On-Screen Poetry in the Cinema of Pier Paolo Pasolini |
| title_full | Angels, Guests and Sadists: On-Screen Poetry in the Cinema of Pier Paolo Pasolini |
| title_fullStr | Angels, Guests and Sadists: On-Screen Poetry in the Cinema of Pier Paolo Pasolini |
| title_full_unstemmed | Angels, Guests and Sadists: On-Screen Poetry in the Cinema of Pier Paolo Pasolini |
| title_short | Angels, Guests and Sadists: On-Screen Poetry in the Cinema of Pier Paolo Pasolini |
| title_sort | angels guests and sadists on screen poetry in the cinema of pier paolo pasolini |
| topic | Pasolini cinema of poetry soundtrack reification orality |
| url | https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/film.2023.0238 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT thomasallen angelsguestsandsadistsonscreenpoetryinthecinemaofpierpaolopasolini |