Part I. The Cinema of Cruelty
PIGSTY
ItalyFrance, 1969
Original title: Porcile
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini. Story and Screenplay: Pier Paolo Pasolini. Directors of Photography: Armando Nannuzzi (Episode 1), Tonino Delli Colli, Giuseppe Ruzzolini (Episode II). Original Music: Benedetto Ghiglia. Music: ”Horst Wessel Lied” (Nazi assault troop marching song). Editor: Nino Baragli. Assistant Editor: Andreina Casini. Assistant Directors: Sergio Citti, Fabio Garriba. Deputy Assistant Director: Sergio Elia. Cast and Characters: Episode I: Pierre Clementi (first cannibal), Franco Citti (second cannibal), Luigi Barbino (the soldier), Ninetto Davoli (Maracchione, witness for the two episodes), Sergio Elia (a household worker); Episode II: Jean-Pierre Léaud (Julian), Alberto Lionello (Klotz, the father), Margherita Lozano (Madame Klotz, the mother, dubbed by Laura Betti), Anne Wiazemsky (Ida), Ugo Tognazzi (Herdhitze), Marco Ferreri (Hans Günther, dubbed by Mario Missiroli), Ninetto Davoli. Production: Gian Vittorio Baldi and IDI Cinematografica (Rome) I Film dell’Orso, CAPAC Filmédis (Paris). Production Director: Rodolfo Frattaioli. Length: 98’.
Format: DCP. Source: Cineteca di Bologna, under licence from Movietime. Original Versione. Subtitles: English.
Restoration by Cineteca di Bologna in its L’Immagine Ritrovata (Bologna) workshop, in conjunction with Movietime and Medusa.
Pasolini alternates two narratives set in different periods – an unspecified past and 1967 – and in symbolic contexts – a volcanic landscape and a German neoclassical villa – to portray the cruelty of the present. In the first “barbaric”, almost silent, narrative, a young cannibal gathers followers and defies the law and morality of his society; in the second, a powerful German industrialist agrees to merge his business with a competitor who is a former Nazi. However, the industrialist’s son conceals an outrageous secret.
“I’m sure someone will ask ‘Is this film autobiographical?’ To anyone who asks, I will say, yes, it is, yes, this is an autobiographical film, if only because my own experience has allowed me first of all to understand the horror depicted, and then to express it by injecting some detachment and humour. It’s biographical because I partly identify with Pierre Clementi’s character, his apocalyptic anarchy, and, let’s say, global revolt on an existential level; partly with the character played by Jean-Pierre Léaud, his ambiguity and fleeting identity – in fact, everything the character tells us about himself in the lengthy monologue directed at his “girlfriend” as she is leaving him.”
(Pier Paolo Pasolini)
The Astor Theatre – 1 Chapel St, St Kilda VIC 3182
Thursday 7 April 2022, h. 9:15 pm
Saturday 9 April 2022, h. 6.00 pm
