The Decameron
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DVD Cover Information Actor: Franco Citti, Lino Crispo, Mirella Catanesi, Salvatore Bilardo, Vincenzo Amato Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen Picture Format: 1.85:1 Running Time: 112 minutes Published: 2002-11-01 DVD Release Date: 2002-11-05 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Studio: MGM (Video & DVD) |
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Movie Reviews of The Decameron
Movie Review: A muddle.
Summary: 2 Stars
The Decameron (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1971)
Yes, I get that Pasolini was supposed to be transgressive and all that stuff. And yes, I get the whole realism thing. But I don't see (and, in my admittedly limited exposure to Pasolini, have yet to see) why transgression and realism in the name of art are supposed to give one a pass on making a good movie. Fernando Meirelles managed both transgression and realism quite nicely in City of God, and what makes it a great film is that it is those things and a movie from which you can't tear your eyes. The Decameron? I could have stopped it at any time to go have dinner. Or tie myself to a termite mound covered in wood shavings.
Pasolini adapts nine Decameron tales here, and to be fair, the source material isn't exactly deathless. (Perhaps the adaptation of some of the weaker tales-- some of them nothing more than one-liners-- is part of the whole quest-for-realism thing?) But scads of directors and screenwriters have taken mediocre source material and made great film from it, so I can't really give Pasolini a pass on that, either. What is inarguable is Pasolini's eye for composition, and if you're a fan of the visuals more than anything else in a movie, this may work well for you; the movie does work better when considered as a series of still lifes captured on film. But, once again, this has been done many times while still making a coherent (and sometimes brilliant; Julian Schnabel is wonderful at this) movie.
Maybe someday I'll get why Pasolini is supposed to be so great, but today isn't the day. **
[ed. note: after reading another review of this particular edition, it seems that some scenes have been cut out that might have made things a touch clearer; perhaps I'll try and find another edition, then amend this.]