One of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s best-known films is ‘Mamma Roma’. Now, an exhibition titled ‘Pasolini Roma’ in Berlin's Martin-Gropius-Bau illuminates the profound relationship between the director and his city…
The filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini, who was born in 1922 and died a violent death in 1975, is associated with such film classics as ‘Accattone’, his version of The Gospel According to St. Matthew and ‘Teorema’, which developed a unique visual language for the Sixties. Desolate landscapes in black and white, bizarre characters and events – often unfortunate and unfathomable – typify these films. Pasolini was a controversial figure who had an uncomfortable relationship with the Italian Communist Party and the Catholic Church. As a director, Pasolini chose to work with unknown amateur actors, as well as the confident post-War Italian star Anna Magnani and the equally indomitable diva Maria Callas (in ‘Medea’).
Desolate landscapes in black and white
Originally from northern Italy, Pasolini found an artistic home in Rome, a city that became a strong theme in his films, novels, poetry, essays and columns. The exhibition ‘Pasolini Roma’, in Berlin's Martin-Gropius-Bau, explores Pasolini’s relations with Rome: a relationship that is by turns passionate, political, sexual, affectionate and cinematic.
The exhibition ‘Pasolini Roma’ is open until 5 January 2015, in Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin. More details can be found at pasoliniroma.com.
