A Certain Realism: Making Use of Pasolini's Film Theory and Practice (Paperback)

~ Maurizio Viano (Author) "The richness and openness of Pasolini's work is the result of his intellectual piracy-that is, of his highly personal appropriation of different, seemingly contradictory, discourses..." (more)
Key Phrases: trilogia della vita, terra vista dalla luna, nonrealist text, Mamma Roma, Third World, Film Stills Archive (more...)

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Product Description

Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975) was arguably the most complex director of postwar Italian cinema. His films--Accattone, The Canterbury Tales, Medea, Saló--continue to challenge and entertain new generations of moviegoers. A leftist, a homosexual, and a distinguished writer of fiction, poetry, and criticism, Pasolini once claimed that "a certain realism" informed his filmmaking.
Masterfully combining analyses of Pasolini's literary and theoretical writings and of all his films, Maurizio Viano offers the first thorough study of Pasolini's cinematic realism, in theory and in practice. He finds that Pasolini's cinematic career exemplifies an "expressionistic realism" that acknowledges its subjective foundation instead of striving for an impossible objectivity.
Focusing on the personal and expressionistic dimensions of Pasolini's cinema, Viano also argues that homosexuality is present in the films in ways that critics have thus far failed to acknowledge. Sure to generate controversy among film scholars, Italianists, and fans of the director's work, this accessible film-by-film treatment is an ideal companion for anyone watching Pasolini's films on video.

From the Inside Flap

"Superb. . . . In its careful handling of the biographical and the autobiographical, the factual and the speculative, this book will become a model for how studies of individual directors should be done in the future."--Peter Brunette, author of Roberto Rossellini

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; First Printing edition (July 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520078551
• ISBN-13: 978-0520078550
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #776,705 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)