THE DECAMERON Movie Review

Il Decameron

Probably the most spirited, faithful, and purely entertaining of the many screen adaptations of Boccaccio's writings, Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1970 rendering of eight bawdy and charming stories from The Decameron was hot stuff when originally released; few theatres would play it thanks to a then-deadly “X” rating, and many of the customers who showed up at those few theatres may have been expecting something considerably more graphic—perhaps pornographic. This squeamishness on the part of censors was partly due to some nudity in the films, but also due to the film establishment's fear and loathing of Pasolini's outspoken political positions and his “unsavory” private life. The perception of Pasolini himself as taboo, if not the personification of evil, was a major “spin” problem that would continue to hamper the director's marketability, right through the limited release of the two other films of his self-described “Trilogy of Life”: The Canterbury Tales (1971) and The Arabian Nights (1974). By 1975, frustrated with compromise, Pasolini erupted with the cinematic equivalent of Ivan the Terrible's angry declaration: “From this day forward I will be what you call me.” He finally lived up to the reputation that had been imposed on him, by following his gentle The Arabian Nights with what was to be not only his last film, but one of the most horrifying non-documentary visions in all cinema—perhaps the only movie in history to really deserve an “X”—Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom. But I do digress. The Decameron is a charmer. (Look for Pasolini in the role of the painter Giotto.)

NEXT STOP … The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Mamma Roma, The Arabian Nights

1970 (R) 111 m/C FR IT GE Franco Citti, Ninetto Davoli, Angela Luce, Patrizia Capparelli, Jovan Jovanovich, Silvana Mangano, Pier Paolo Pasolini; D: Pier Paolo Pasolini; C: Tonino Delli Colli; M: Ennio Morricone. Berlin International Film Festival '71: Silver Prize. VHS, LV, Letterbox WBF