Oedipus Rex

Year:  1967

Director:  Pier Paolo Pasolini

Screenplay:  Pier Paolo Pasolini, based on the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles

Starring:  Franco Citti, Silvano Mangano, Alida Valli, Julian Beck, Carmelo Bene, Ninetto Davoli, Luciano Bartoli, Ahmed Belhachmi

Running Time:  104 minutes

Genre:  Drama

As a baby, Oedipus (Citti) is abandoned on a mountain slope, but is rescued and raised by King Polybus (Belchami) and Queen Merope (Valli) of Corinth.  Now an adult, Oedipus suffers strange nightmares and leaves home to visit the Oracle at Delphi to learn what the dreams mean.  However the Oracle tells him that he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother.  Horrified, and unaware that Polybus and Merope are not his biological parents, Oedipus decides not to return to Corinth.  However, as much as he tries to avoid the prophecy, he can't cheat his fate.

Oedipus Rex is one of the most famous of the Ancient Greek tragedies, with it's portrayal of a man who as he tries to avoid his fate, inadvertently brings it about, and brings tragedy down on himself and everyone around him.  Pier Paolo Pasolini gives the classic tragedy his own unique spin.  Bookended by sequences set in 1920s, in which a child is born to a wealthy woman and an Army Officer who resents him, and 1960s Bologna, in which blind Oedipus wanders the bustling streets playing his flute.  The rest of the film was shot in Morocco, with the cities made up of 15th Century buildings, and a mixture of African, Aztec and European style in the props and costumes, with the score made up of Romanian, Japanese and Indonesian folk music.  It depicts a world that is familiar and yet very much it's own.  Pasolini added autobiographical elements, stating that he was the child in the prologue, his father was. military officer and his mother was a teacher.  As with a lot of Pasolini's "historical" films, the loose, handheld camera work, and use of non-professional and often very unconventional looking performers, makes the film look like a strange documentary from another world.  Franco Citti gives a powerful performance in the lead role, and the film, while being quite a demanding watch, has a unique power if it's own.

Franco Citti in Oedipus Rex

Pasolini

 Year of Release: 2014

Director:  Abel Ferrara

Screenplay:  Maurizio Braucci

Starring:  Willem Dafoe, Ninetto Davoli, Riccardo Scamarcio, Valerio Mastandrea, Adriana Asti, Giada Colagrande, Maria de Medeiros

Running Time:  84 minutes

Genre:  Drama, biography, 

Rome, 1975:  Internationally acclaimed film director, poet, screenwriter, author, essayist, critic, commentator and intellectual Pier Paolo Pasolini (Dafoe) his just completed his notorious film Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom and has returned home to start work on two new projects: a novel, and another film.  However neither of the projects are completed, as Pasolini is brutally murdered.

The film moves between the events of Pasolini's final few hours and recreations of scenes from his planned film and unwritten novel.  It's less of a biography of Pier Paolo Pasolini, and more of a tribute to him.  The film assumes that it's audience are already familiar with Pasolini, and at least the basic facts of his life and work.  If you are not familiar with him, then you won't learn anything about the man or why he was so important.  Prolific director Abel Ferrara began his career with the notorious The Driller Killer (1979) before moving on to disturbing cult films such as Ms. 45 (1981), King of New York (1990), Bad Lieutenant (1992), The Addiction (1995) and The Funeral (1996).  This is more of a European art film but, while it lacks much of Ferrara's earlier carnage, this still has some explicit sex and the climatic murder is deeply disturbing.  Moving between fact and fantasy it's sometimes unclear as to what is actually happening, but Ferrara conjures some startling images.  Clad in black leather jacket, with dyed black hair and eyes permanently hidden behind dark glasses Willem Dafoe bears a remarkable physical resemblance to Pasolini, given to making gravely pronouncements in restaurants and during interviews, Pasolini remains a cipher, but in the scenes with his friends and families, Dafoe imbues him with genuine warmth.  the film also costars Pasolini regular Ninetto Davoli.  While this would be inaccessible for newcomers, Pasolini fans should enjoy it.

  Willem Dafoe as Pasolini