Pasolini (2014)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Pasolini (2014) – A. Ferrara

Willem Dafoe plays Pier Paolo Pasolini, the famous Italian writer-director, a gay Marxist who courted scandal and was murdered in the early 1970s. Abel Ferrara’s film shows the last day or so in his life. By no means a standard biopic, but instead a series of scenes/episodes that may or may not shed light on Pasolini’s character. The main theme that comes through is about the need to create and to stay true to one’s vision. Ferrara and Pasolini, as directors, shared a certain fearlessness, a willingness to put things on screen that might cross the line or enrage the censors. Ferrara’s best known film might be Bad Lieutenant, where Harvey Keitel shows us why his titular characters is so bad.  Pasolini had a more successful and varied career but his final film, Salo, probably created the most scandal (I haven’t seen it but there are clips in this film). He also created films based on literary works, such as the Gospels, the Canterbury Tales, Arabian Nights, etc. after an early career releasing some provocative character studies.  Ferrara includes some pornographic scenes in the current film for good measure. Dafoe loses himself in the character and benefits from Ferrara’s moody style. No judgments are made about Pasolini’s lifestyle – although you get the sense that his late night trysts with gay hustlers are an escape from the stresses of his day job, a tragic escape, as it turns out.