Pasolini 101

Disc 1. Accattone / Arco Film, Cino del Duca ; written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. (Cast: Franco Citti, Franca Pasut, Silvana Corsini, Paola Guidi, Adriana Asti). (1961, black and white, 117 min.). Special features: audio commentary (2023) by critic and historian Tony Rayns; "Pasolini on Pasolini," actor Tilda Swinton and writer Rachel Kushner read from Pasolini's personal essays and journal entries, in which he reflects on the meaning of cinema in his life and his journey to becoming a maestro of the craft; "Cinéastes de notre temps," (aired on French television, November 15, 1966) features wide-ranging conversations with the director as well as interviews with the actors and collaborators who helped shape his cinematic universe over the course of the sixties; trailer.

Disc 2. Mamma Roma / Arco Film ; written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. (Cast: Anna Magnani, Ettore Garofolo, Franco Citti). (1962, black and white, 106 min.). Special features: "La ricotta," short film by Pasolini (1962), about a director filming the Passion of Jesus, as part of the anthology film 'Ro.Go.Pa.G.'; "Pier Paolo Pasolini," documentary made by Ivo Barnabò Micheli in 1995

the twentieth anniversary of Pasolini's murder

examines the central ideas in the work of this legendary and controversial artist; interview with filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci, who began his career as a production assistant on Pasolini's first film, 'Accattone' (2003); interview with Tonino Delli Colli, director of photography on eleven of Pasolini's films (2003); interview with Enzo Siciliano, author of 'Pasolini: a biography' (2003); trailer.

Disc 3. Comizi d'amore = Love meetings / Arco Film ; written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. (Narrator, Lello Bersani). (1964, black and white, 92 min.). Special features: "Notes for a critofilm," short documentary made by Maurizio Ponzi (1967) in which Pasolini offers a concise yet illuminating explanation of his cinematic grammar, drawing on his regular collaborator Ninetto Davoli and scenes from 'Love meetings' to illustrate examples of his larger artistic worldview; "Varda meets Pasolini," portrait of Pasolini filmed by Agnès Varda (1967) in which Varda and Pasolini link up on the streets of New York City; trailer.

Disc 4. Il vangelo secondo Matteo = The gospel according to Matthew / Arco Film, Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France ; written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Based on The Gospel of Matthew. (Cast: Enrique Irazoqui, Margherita Caruso, Susanna Pasolini, Marcello Morante, Mario Socrate). (1964, black and white, 137 min.). Includes optional English subtitles from the King James Version. Special features: "Scouting in Palestine," documentary (1963) overlays Pasolini's sojourn from village to village with his improvised observations and commentary during his travel to Palestine to find filming locations; trailer.

Disc 5. Uccellacci e uccellini = The hawks and the sparrows / written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. (Cast: Totò, Ninetto Davoli). (1966, black and white, 89 min.). Special features: "Totò at the circus," deleted scene features the film's lead actor Totò and includes dialogue that Pasolini had planned to record for the scene; "Ninetto the messenger," documentary (1997) directed by Jean-André Fieschi in which actor Ninetto Davoli discusses his collaboration with Pasolini, who he met in the early 1960s; trailer.

Disc 6. Edipo re = Oedipus Rex / Arco Film, Somafis ; written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Based on the play by Sophocles. (Cast: Silvana Mangano, Franco Citti, Alida Valli, Carmelo Bene, Julian Beck). (1967, color, 104 min.). Special features: "Notes for a film on India," documentary shot on the occasion of Pasolini's trip to postindependence India to do research on a proposed film, featuring his reflections on the country's economic and class-based hardships, as well as on its modernization and Westernization; "The sequence of the paper flower," sketch directed by Pasolini featuring actor Ninetto Davoli as part of the 1969 anthology film 'Love and anger,' a compendium of modern-day cinematic reflections on the Gospels that also features the work of contemporaries such as Jean-Luc Godard, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Marco Bellocchio; trailer.

Disc 7. Teorema / Aetos Produzioni Cinematografiche ; written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. (Cast: Silvana Mangano, Terence Stamp, Massimo Girotti, Anne Wiazemsky, Laura Betti, Andres Jose Cruz Soublette, Ninetto Davoli). (1968, color, 98 min.). Special features: audio commentary (2007) by film scholar Robert S. C. Gordon, author of 'Pasolini: forms of subjectivity'; "Pasolini introduction," brief interview, first broadcast on February 8, 1969, in which Pasolini responds to questions from journalist Cécile Philippe about his film 'Teorema'; interview with Terence Stamp (2007) in which the actor discusses making 'Teorema'; interview with film scholar John David Rhodes (2019), author of 'Stupendous, miserable city: Pasolini's Rome' in which he discusses 'Teorema.'

Disc 8. Porcile / IDI Cinematografica, I Film Dell'Orso, INDIEF, CAPAC ; written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. (Cast: Pierre Clementi, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Alberto Lionello, Ugo Tognazzi, Anne Wiazemsky, Margherita Lozano, Marco Ferreri, Franco Citti, Ninetto Davoli). (1969, color, 98 min.). Special features: "Pasolini on 'Porcile'," interview for the French television program "Allez au cinema," directed by Colette Thiriet and aired on October 13, 1969, Pasolini talks about making 'Porcile' and casting Pierre Clémenti and Jean-Pierre Léaud as the film's lead actors; trailer.

Disc 9. Medea / San Marco, Les Film Number One, Janus Film und Fernsehen ; written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Based on the play by Euripides. (Cast: Maria Callas, Massimo Girotti, Laurent Terzieff, Giuseppe Gentile, Margareth Clementi). (1969, color, 110 min.). Special features: "On-set memories," documentary (2004) on the making of 'Medea' featuring rare behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with actors Laurent Terzieff and Giuseppe Gentile, cinematographer Ennio Guarnieri, production designer Dante Ferretti, costume designer Piero Tosi, and still photographer Mario Tursi; interview with Maria Callas for the French television program "Pour le cinema," directed by Pierre Mignot and aired on October 28, 1969, in which the actor and opera icon speaks from the set of 'Medea' about her first on-screen performance and collaboration with Pasolini; trailer.