Pasolini 101

[Matt]

Very 2020s Criterion to now provide vastly less transparent information about something for which they previously provided a great amount of detail.

[tenia]

This makes absolutely no sense.
Moreover, this means they sold their individual release with a backcover blurb, a marketing and a tech details stating it's a 4K restoration, but it actually... isn't ? And it's something they only realised after the fact despite the restoration being a job done internally ?

Very 2020s Criterion to now provide vastly less transparent information about something for which they previously provided a great amount of detail.

This might mostly have to do with the fact it's now a big boxset rather than an individual release. I remember their Bergman set having very little tech details compared to the Bergman individual releases.

[Matt]

This might mostly have to do with the fact it's now a big boxset rather than an individual release. I remember their Bergman set having very little tech details compared to the Bergman individual releases.

This is what I was referring to, the lack of tech details in spite of it being the same transfer (I assume). I have not been following the details of the restoration and whether this is a different transfer from what was on the stand-alone release. Just trying to crack a joke.

[andyli]

This makes absolutely no sense.
Moreover, this means they sold their individual release with a backcover blurb, a marketing and a tech details stating it's a 4K restoration, but it actually... isn't ? And it's something they only realised after the fact despite the restoration being a job done internally ?

This is not the only incident. Remember the recent discrepancy between Criterion and BFI over Targets' restoration specs? I'm sure there are other instances that I can't think off the top of my head.

[Matt]

Got my set today. It’s very nice, but I kind of can’t believe they’re getting the same price ($250 list) for this as the Fellini and Varda sets. It’s small (not much bigger than a DVD box but sticks out further on the shelf), and 9 discs compared to the other sets’ 15. I’m sure the licensing and restoration costs were high, and the sales expectations lower than the others, so I won’t complain further. More box sets please!

[ianthemovie]

Out of curiosity, would you be able to share the dimensions? Amazon claims that it measures 9.6" x 7" x 2", which seems suspiciously large.

[cdnchris]

That might be for the box it comes in. The set itself is 7.5" x 6.5" x 1.5".

[ellipsis7]

It's actually a lovely set, as I spool through the 9 discs just arrived, with some great new restorations & transfers... The packaging is elegantly designed & pragmatically compact - the height of the set is that of a standard DVD, so it fits neatly on the shelf, albeit protruding an extra centimeter or so out at the front...

[A Tempted Christ]

Wait, so which version of La Ricotta is included in this set? Two versions have been restored in 2022. The version that was shown as part of Ro.Go.Pa.G. and runs 35 minutes was restored from the original camera negative. But there is also a director's cut that was restored using a 35mm positive print and runs 3 minutes longer.

[Matt]

I had never seen Accattone before and it was very nice to see it for the first time in this restored HD version.

It was more spiritually and stylistically Bressonian than I expected, a pleasant surprise. My exposure to Italian cinema has been scattershot (basically anything Criterion has put out), but it’s very cool to see how all the major postwar auteurs (Pasolini, Visconti, Fellini, Antonioni, Rossellini) started out mining a narrow vein of neorealism with films that have many thematic and stylistic similarities, and then each moved on to much more idiosyncratic themes and styles to a point where you could never confuse a later Pasolini film for a Visconti or a Fellini for an Antonioni.

I’ve only ever seen Gospel… and Teorema of the films in this set, so I’m eager to explore further.

[swo17]

To MoC's credit, their 11-year-old Accatone transfer was astoundingly good. Do we know how this one is supposed to compare?

[ellipsis7]

Like so, basically - MoC being the first image & Criterion the second in most of the DVDBeaver comparisons...

Owning both ACCATTONE discs myself, I guess I find the Pasolini 101 image to be denser & better defined, which can put down to the recent 4K restoration...

[knives]

I had never seen Accattone before and it was very nice to see it for the first time in this restored HD version.

It was more spiritually and stylistically Bressonian than I expected, a pleasant surprise. My exposure to Italian cinema has been scattershot (basically anything Criterion has put out), but it’s very cool to see how all the major postwar auteurs (Pasolini, Visconti, Fellini, Antonioni, Rossellini) started out mining a narrow vein of neorealism with films that have many thematic and stylistic similarities, and then each moved on to much more idiosyncratic themes and styles to a point where you could never confuse a later Pasolini film for a Visconti or a Fellini for an Antonioni.

I’ve only ever seen Gospel… and Teorema of the films in this set, so I’m eager to explore further.

I’m not sure if I could ever place Antonioni in that group. He actually started off making melodramas and unlike de Sica never really dipped into the neorealist pool instead going straight from stuff like Le Amiche to Il Grido. He was definitely his own man.

Rossellini, Fellini, and Pasolini really can be considered like one unit of Italian cinema in conjunction with your idea. Rossellini was sui generis, but mentored Fellini giving him his initial approach. Now Fellini was also a student of Steno so it was kind of inevitable for him to go off on a different tangent given that Rossellini’s sense of humour was never a primary aspect.

From there Fellini actually mentored Pasolini who was an established poet at the time he came to film. I’d argue he already belongs entirely to the next generation of filmmakers (which makes sense starting two decades after Rossellini). Accatone was actually produced with the support of Fellini with the relationship later going sour thanks to the extreme of Pasolini’s work being so off putting to Fellini.

[Matt]

Thank you, that’s good additional context to have.

For Antonioni, I guess I was thinking more about his short films made 1947-50 and also Il Grido, which returns to the Po Valley. But yes, much more melodrama than neorealism on his resume.

De Sica kind of stands alone for me even though (or perhaps because) he is the primary figure of neorealism but didn’t seem to have the same success in a later, more idiosyncratic style. I honestly prefer him as a supremely charming actor than a director.

[knives]

I do as well. The only features I absolutely love are Umberto D, Two Women, and especially Shoeshine. His later straying into wacky comedy, his Peter Sellers collab isn’t even his wackiest film, just don’t work for me. His Clint Eastwood starring comedy segment from The Witches is a fascinating one though.

I think neo-realism as a movement is kind of manufactured and should instead be considered kind of an aesthetic that various filmmakers wore to various degrees and for various reasons. This rings especially true to me about Italian cinema as historically there’s been explosions of a genre or style thanks to a kind of follow the leader effect. Neo-realism just happened to be a more uppercrust case of that.

[Matt]

The case for neorealism as an adopted style is definitely strong. Rossellini was so good at using real locations and mixing non-actors with professionals, shooting in a raw style. That, to me, is true neorealism. De Sica, on the other hand, always feels a little contrived and manipulative to me. Always making you reach for your hanky. I love emotional manipulation in many kinds of films, but not when it involves kids or animals.

Bringing it back to our topic, Accattone felt closer to Rossellini (and Bresson, as I mentioned) in that I didn’t really know who was a professional actor (if there were any) and who was not. All the performances felt true to the film and in harmony with each other. The desolation and desperation of the Roman setting (several years after the war still) was a key part of the film and reflected the aimless and hopeless nature of the characters. Still thinking about it all a day later.

[swo17]

This is a very classy set and the book has plenty of sidebars devoted to Pasolini's writings and drawings, though I guess there's just a lot of that out there. Here are some items that were included in the MoC releases that I don't believe are included in the Criterion set. In other words, some may want to keep their old copies for this content:

Accatone/Comizi d'amore
Poem: To a Pope
Essay: My Accatone
A Hundred Pair of Oxen (original treatment for Comizi d'amore)
Art: Pasolini's self-portrait
Interviews: Excerpts from Pasolini on Pasolini for both films

Il vangelo secondo Matteo/Sopralluoghi in Palestina
Letter to a Catholic community center explaining his inspiration for adapting the Bible
Interviews: Excerpts from Pasolini on Pasolini for both films

Edipo re
Essay: Why That of Oedipus Is a Story
Poem: Prayer to My Mother
Interviews: Excerpts from Pasolini on Pasolini for the film

Hawks and Sparrows/Porcile
Director's note circulated at the premiere of Porcile
Interviews: Excerpts from Pasolini on Pasolini for both films, an interview where Pasolini discusses Totò, and one where he discusses Porcile

In addition, the BFI releases of both Teorema and Medea include English audio tracks, but only the former does in the Criterion set

[Matt]

Worth noting that New York Review Books (NYRB) is reprinting a couple of Pasolini books:

Theorem, his third novel on which the film is based

Boys Alive, his first novel and apparently his best known work of fiction

[beamish14]

Worth noting that New York Review Books (NYRB) is reprinting a couple of Pasolini books:

Theorem, his third novel on which the film is based

Boys Alive, his first novel and apparently his best known work of fiction

Petrolio is the big one that is currently not in print in North America

[kekid]

Can someone suggest how to gets discs out of their pockets without finger smudges?
The pockets with hard backs are very tight, and the discs don't slide out. They need to be grabbed by the edge (not easy because the pockets have little room) and firmly pulled out. Criterion designed these pockets ideally in their Bergman set. I don't know why they did not follow the same design in all their boxes.
This is not to detract from the general excellence of the set.

[black&huge]

Can someone suggest how to gets discs out of their pockets without finger smudges?
The pockets with hard backs are very tight, and the discs don't slide out. They need to be grabbed by the edge (not easy because the pockets have little room) and firmly pulled out. Criterion designed these pockets ideally in their Bergman set. I don't know why they did not follow the same design in all their boxes.
This is not to detract from the general excellence of the set.

I just pinch as much of the edge of the discs without trying to touch any of the print/information while sorta of pushing open the slot as much as possible without creasing it and just firmly pull out.

[JSC]

Petrolio is the big one that is currently not in print in North America

The English translation of Petrolio published in 1997 by Pantheon books is out of print but
you can still get used copies for decent prices. However, be warned that it is essentially an
unfinished novel (at the time of his death Pasolini had only written about half of it) and that
a large portion of the material are isolated notes and ideas for scenes.

[onedimension]

Anyone have tech difficulties with Matthew? When I get to chapter 12 the screen starts turning into blocks, sound spits and crackles.. no idea if it’s the disc or something with my player

[therewillbeblus]

Anyone have tech difficulties with Matthew? When I get to chapter 12 the screen starts turning into blocks, sound spits and crackles.. no idea if it’s the disc or something with my player

I just checked mine to see, and it plays fine. However, my disc is all scratched up, probably due to how tightly these are packaged/tough to get out of their sleeves. I wouldn't be surprised if playback issues were related to this. I know Criterion ships replacements for individual discs in box sets, and for films that aren't on their 'problem list' (I recently had the same thing you're describing happen in the middle of Ben Johnson's Oscar-winning monologue on my copy of The Last Picture Show despite the disc being spotless, and they replaced it with a fixed disc), so you should be able to get a replacement if you contact them

[ryannichols7]

This is a very classy set and the book has plenty of sidebars devoted to Pasolini's writings and drawings, though I guess there's just a lot of that out there. Here are some items that were included in the MoC releases that I don't believe are included in the Criterion set. In other words, some may want to keep their old copies for this content:

excellent breakdown. what else, in the way of docs/shorts/etc are there that's missing here?

I love the design of the set and it's great holding it in hand. minus...the disc slots. I'm gonna join the consensus here, they didn't really think this through and these are a real bitch to remove. I'm wishing there was a way they could nail this slot design - the Bergman and Fellini sets did well but the others are a letdown. obviously it's way too much to have 9 normal cases, but there's got to be another way. but I am glad each film got its own in the way of individual art, something none of the other boxes have had so far. I think the "cover" for Gospel According to Matthew is pretty fantastic, so glad to see it included here.

skimmed the booklet and yes, there's very little in the way of Pasolini's own writing. but respect where it's due, James Quandt has pretty expansive stuff here, and I'm glad each film seems to get a pretty substantial essay. the Fellini set had great contributions from David Forgacs, but he was all too underutilized. something I feel the same about here, too (he's only on one extra apparently?). I'll be digging into the box soon and will report back