On the occasion marking 100 years since Pier Paolo Pasolini’s birth, an event celebrating the acclaimed Italian film-maker is taking place at the National Library of Malta in Valletta between September 7 and 8.
Set over two days, Pasolini 100 will feature screenings of Che cosa sono le nuvole (1968), La sequenza del fiore di carta (1968) and Il fiore delle mille e una note (1974).
The event also includes a lecture delivered in Italian by Roberto Chiesi and Andrea Morini, accompanied by readings delivered by Andrea Stegani and moderated by Ilaria Labbate, delving into Pasolini’s cinema.
Pasolini 100, curated by Francesca Zammit, is being organised by the Department of Italian, the Master of Arts in Film Studies of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Malta, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute in Valletta.
Speaking to Times of Malta about the film-maker’s legacy, deputy dean of the Department of Italian Gloria Lauri Lucente describes Pasolini as one of the most controversial, eclectic and enigmatic Italian figures of the 20th century.
“As a writer and a film-maker, he was ideologically influenced by Marxism but, at the same time, he exhibited a deep-rooted and distinctive sense of spirituality by interweaving traditional, religious and folkloristic elements with his post-capitalistic critique of modern consumeristic culture,” she says.
Lauri Lucente goes on to note that Pasolini fervently aimed to reinstate the ‘sacred’ into contemporary capitalist society through a refashioning of classical literature in his so-called ‘cinema of poetry’ based on the original Greek tragedies.
As a writer and a film-maker, he was ideologically influenced by Marxism
This is most evidenced in his films Oedipus Rex (1967), Medea (1969), Notes Towards an African Orestes (1970) and the so-called ‘Trilogy of Life’ – Decameron (1971), The Canterbury Tales (1972) and Arabian Nights (1974).
“The later years of his career, cut tragically short in 1975, show an intense pessimism towards modern society, as captured in his last film Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) which came out posthumously, as well as in his newspaper articles included in Scritti Corsari (1975) and Lettere Luterane (1976),” she says.
Asked about Pasolini’s relevance for an audience of this day and age, Lauri Lucente says that, in today’s social network-based and consumeristic society, which seems to belittle the importance of human relationships ‘beyond the (touch)screen’, Pasolini’s works are particularly relevant and have even taken on a new meaning.
“Even though the subject matter of his films stems from Italy’s socio-political reality of the 1960s and 1970s, it was expressed through universal images and themes that communicate something more profound and enduring about the loss of contact with the natural world in urban living, and the religious and mystical side of the human spirit,” she says.
The project is co-sponsored by Shadeena Entertainment Ltd, Sajjetta, Kukumajsa Productions Ltd, Falkun Films and Nizza Films. The event is free of charge, however, given the limited capacity available, it is advisable to book online by sending an e-mail to richard.gambin@um.edu.mt. The event is suitable for an audience aged over 16.