The final part of Pier Paolo PASOLINI’s Trilogy of Life and easily the best.
Again, the faces of mostly non-professional actors used to express his attempt to make films with no ideological axe to grind. This is only partly successful because there is clearly ideology in his choice of demotic faces - this time mixed in with the most attractive.
Again, the joyous laughter at human folly and the passions that can lead us to them. While demonstrating great affection for the people who remind us so acutely of who we ourselves are, albeit in an Edenic, spontaneous and romanticized state of being.
The dreamlike quality of this narrative drives it and it can become a little confusing to know what is real and what is someone’s dream. But, strangely, this matters little as the whole movie is structured as a reverie with more emotional plausibility than rational. Yet, these dreams quietly and effectively complement one another.
For once carnality is presented as joyful expression rather than guilt ridden secret and the sound of young girl’s laughter rings through one’s mind after seeing it. In PASOLINI’s unforced sense of childlike wonder at people and an appreciation of the human body and of the places he chooses to record with his camera, this film becomes a visually sumptuous and exotic take on fate and magic.
Copyright © 2009 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.
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