The late, controversial director Pier Paolo Pasolini made his dangerous mark on cinema with blunt stories of taboo-breaking material, such as sex and religion, and how the two can sometimes coexist. There is his 1962 breakthrough, Mamma Roma, with Anna Magnani playing a former prostitute who becomes a market trader; his trilogy of life: The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales, and Arabian Nights, and his most shocking final film, Salo: Or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975). But his finest work is 1968’s Teorema (theorem), which remains a timely story about the masks we wear, and our true selves hiding underneath those masks. Terence Stamp stars as a handsome and mysterious figure (an angel?) who comes in and out of the lives of a bourgeois family, and in turn, destroys them in the process.
Buy Teorema (The Criterion Collection) Blu-rayThe new release by Criterion includes some pretty nifty supplements, including a 2007 commentary by author Robert S.C. Gordon, introduction by Pasolini from 1969, a interview from 2007 with Stamp, a new interview with author John David Rhodes, and an alternate English-dubbed soundtrack featuring the voices of Stamp and others. This should really be another incredible addition to any film lover’s collection, and a cinematic experience to behold. Read my review.
Other releases:
Antoni Gaudi (Criterion): Hiroshi Teshigahara’s document of the work of legendary Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926).
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: Tom Hanks plays the celebrated host and creator of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, the legendary Fred Rogers.
Jojo Rabbit: Taiki Waititi’s portrait of a young boy in Hitler’s army who discovers that his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish woman in their home.
Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 1: includes 20 uncut classic shorts from the Golden Age of animation, created by the famed animator of MGM & Warner Bros during the 1940s and ’50s.
Frankie: filmmaker Ira Sachs crafts a portrait of three generations dealing with a life-changing experience during a one-day stint in Sintra, Portugal.
