Pier Paolo Pasolini Biography (1922-)

Born March 5, 1922, in Bologna, Italy; murdered November 2, 1975, in Ostia, Italy; buried in Casarsa, Italy; son of Carlo Alberto (an army officer) and Susanna (Colussi) Pasolini. Politics: Marxism. Career: Poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, composer, director, and actor. Founder of the Academiuta di Lenga Furlana (Academy of Friulan Language), Casarsa, Italy, 1944; secretary of a Communist Party cell in Casarsa, Italy, beginning in 1947;teacher in Ciampino, Italy, beginning in 1950; columnist for Il Tempo;cofounder and editor of Officina, Bologna, Italy. Military service: Italian Army, 1943. Awards, Honors: Premio Le Quattro Arti, 1952, for the essay "Un poeta e dio"; Best Screenplay Award (with Massimo Franciosa and Pasquale Festa Campanile), Cannes International Film Festival, 1957, for Giovanni mariti; Special Jury Prize and another award, Venice International Film Festival, 1964, United Nations Award nomination, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1968, Grand Prize, International Catholic FilmOffice, and two other awards from the Roman Catholic Church, all for Il vangelo secondo Matteo; Silver Berlin Bear, special jury prize, Berlin International Film Festival, 1970, for Il decameron; Golden Berlin Bear,Berlin International Film Festival, 1971, for I racconti di Canterbury; Grand Jury Prize, Cannes International Film Festival, 1974, for Il fioredelle mille e una notte; Karlovy Vary Festival Award, for Accattone; International Catholic Film Office Award, for Teorema(later revoked); Viareggio Prize, for Le ceneri di Gramsci; award for directing Edipo re. The Associazione Fondo Pier Paolo Pasolini and the Fondo Pasolini were founded in Pasolini's honor.

Gender: Male
Occupation: Poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, composer, director, actor
Birth Details: March 5, 1922; Bologna, Italy

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Appearances
Er Monco, Il gobbo(also known as The Hunchback of Rome andLe bossu de Rome), Royal, 1960
Commentator, Comizi d'amore(also known as Assembly of Love and Love Meetings), Arco Films, 1964
Commentator, Sopraluoghi in Palestina per il vangelo secondo Matteo(documentary), [Italy], 1964
High priest, Edipo re(also known as Oedipus Rex), Euro International Films, 1967
Don Juan, Requiescant(also known as Kill and Pray, Killand Say Your Prayers, Let Them Rest, and Moegen sie in Friedenruhen), [Italy and West Germany (now Germany)], 1968
Narrator, Le Mura di Sana'a,1970
Giotto, Il decameron(also known as The Decameron), Produzione Europee Associate/United Artists, 1970
Geoffrey Chaucer, I racconti di Canterbury(also known as The Canterbury Tales), United Artists, 1971
Appearance in archival footage, A futura memoria di Pier Paolo Pasolini(documentary), [Italy], 1987
Appearance in archival footage, The Ashes of Pasolini,1993
Appearance in archival footage, Pier Paolo Pasolini(documentary),1995
Film Work
Director, Unless Otherwise Noted
Accattone, Cino del Duca/Arco Films, 1961 released in the United States, 1968
Mamma Roma, Arco Films/Cineriz, 1962
"La ricotta," Laviamoci il cervello(also known as Let's Have a Brainwash and RoGoPaG), Arco Films/Cineriz/Lyre, 1962
(And editor) First segment, La rabbia(also known as The Anger; documentary), Opus Films, 1963
Il vangelo secondo Matteo(also known as L'evangile selon saint Matthieu), Arco Films/Lux Films, 1964 released in the United States as The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Continental Distributing, 1964
Comizi d'amore(also known as Assembly of Love and Love Meetings), Arco Films, 1964
Sopraluoghi in Palestina per il vangelo secondo Matteo(documentary), [Italy], 1964
Il padre selvaggio(short film), [Italy], 1965
Uccallacci e uccellini(also known as The Hawks and the Sparrows), Arco Films, 1966
"La terra vista dalla luna" (also known as "The Earth Seen from the Moon"), Le streghe(also known as Les sorcieres), Lopert/Arco Films,1966 released in the United States as The Witches, Lopert, 1969
(And music coordinator) Edipo re(also known as Oedipus Rex), Euro International Films, 1967
Teorema(based on his novel; also known as Theorem), Aetos Films, 1968
"Che cosa sono le nuvole?," Capriccio all'italiana(also knownas Caprice Italian Style), Dino de Laurentiis, 1968
"La sequenza del fiore di campo," Amore e rabbia(also known as Love and Anger, Evangile 70, La contestation, and Vangelo), Castoro Films/Anouchka Films, 1969
Appunti per un film indiano,1969
Porcile(also known as Pigpen and Pigsty), Film dell'Orso, 1969
Medea, New Line Cinema, 1970
Le Mura di Sana'a,1970
Il decameron(also known as The Decameron), Produzione Europee Associate/United Artists, 1970
(And photographer) Appunti per un'orestiade Africana(also known as Notes for an African Orestes), [Italy], 1970
Appunti per un romanzo dell'immondeza,[Italy], 1970
(And musical assistant) I racconti di Canterbury(also known as The Canterbury Tales), United Artists, 1971
(Uncredited; with others) Dodici dicembre 1972,[Italy], 1972
Il fiore delle mille e una notte(also known as Arabian Nights, Flower of the Arabian Nights, and A Thousand and One Nights), United Artists, 1974
Salo o le centiventi giornate di Sodoma(also known as Salo, orthe 120 Days of Sodom and Salo ou les 120 journees de Sodome), United Artists Europa, 1975
Television Appearances
Specials
Pier Paolo Pasolini,[West Germany (now Germany)], 1969
WRITINGS
Screenplays, Unless Otherwise Noted
(With Mario Soldati and others) La donna del fiume(also known as The River Girl and Woman of the River; based on an idea by EnnioFlaiano and Alberto Moravia), Columbia, 1955
(With Luis Trenker) Il prigioniero della montagna,[Italy], 1955
(With others) Marisa la civetta(also known as Marisa and Marisa, la coqueta), Carlo Ponti Cinematografica/Balcazar Producciones Cinematograficas, 1957
(With Massimo Franciosa and Pasquale Festa Campanile) Giovanni mariti(also known as Young Husbands and Jeunes maries), Nepi Film/Silver Films, 1957
(With Federico Fellini) Le notti di Cabiria(also known as Cabiria and Nights of Cabiria), Lopert, 1957
(Author of story) Morte di un amico(also known as Death of a Friend), [Italy], 1959
(With Mauro Bolognini) La notte brava(also known as Bad Girls Don't Cry, Night Heat, On Any Street, and Les garcons; based on his novel Ragazzi di vita), Ajace/Franco London, 1959 released in the United States by Miller/Medallion, 1962
(With others) La lunga notte del '43(also known as The LongNight of '43), Mercurio Films, 1960
(Author of story and commentary) La canta delle marane,1960
(With Gianni Puccini) Il carro armato dell'8 settembre,[Italy], 1960
(With others; and author of story) La giornata balorda(also knownas A Crazy Day, Love Is a Day's Work, Pickup in Rome, A Strange Day, and Ca s'est passe a Rome), Transcontinental/Euro International, 1960 released in the United States as From a RomanBalcony, Continental Distributing, 1961
(With Mauro Bolognini and Gino Vissentini) Il bell'Antonio(also known as Handsome Antonio and Le bel Antonio; based on a novel by Vitaliano Brancati), Embassy, 1960 released in the United States, 1962
(With Luciano Emmer) La ragazza in vetrina(also known as Girl in the Window and La fille dans la vitrine), Discifilm, 1961
Accattone(based on his novel Una vita violenta), Cino del Duca/Arco Films, 1961 released in the United States, 1968 published by Edizioni FM (Rome, Italy), 1961
(Author of story) Una vita violenta(based on his novel), Zebra Film, 1962
Mamma Roma, Arco Films/Cineriz, 1962 published by Rizzoli (Milan,Italy), 1962
"La ricotta," Laviamoci il cervello(also known as Let's Have a Brainwash and RoGoPaG), Arco Films/Cineriz/Lyre, 1962
(And author of story) La commare secca(also known as The Grim Reaper), Zibetti, 1962
First segment, La rabbia(also known as The Anger; documentary), Opus Films, 1963
Il vangelo secondo Matteo(also known as L'evangile selon saint Matthieu), Arco Films/Lux Films, 1964 released in the United States as The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Continental Distributing, 1964edited by Giacomo Gambetti and published by Garzanti (Milan, Italy), 1964
(Author of commentary) Comizi d'amore(also known as Assembly of Love and Love Meetings), Arco Films, 1964
(Author of commentary) Sopraluoghi in Palestina per il vangelo secondoMatteo(documentary), [Italy], 1964

Il padre selvaggio(short film), [Italy], 1965 published by Einaudi(Turin, Italy), 1975
Uccallacci e uccellini(also known as The Hawks and the Sparrows), Arco Films, 1966 published by Garzanti, 1966
"La terra vista dalla luna" (also known as "The Earth Seen from the Moon"), Le streghe(also known as The Witches and Les sorcieres), Lopert/Arco Films, 1966 released in the United States by Lopert, 1969
(And composer) Edipo re(based on the tragedy by Sophocles; also known as Oedipus Rex), Euro International Films, 1967 edited by GiacomoGambetti and published as Edipo re: Un film, Garzanti, 1967 translation by John Mathews published as Oedipus Rex: A Film, Lorrimer (London,England), 1971
Teorema(based on his novel; also known as Theorem), Aetos Films, 1968
"Che cosa sono le nuvole?," Capriccio all'italiana(also knownas Caprice Italian Style), Dino de Laurentiis, 1968
Appunti per un film indiano,1969
Porcile(also known as Pigpen and Pigsty), Film dell'Orso, 1969 published in Porcile; Orgia; Bestia da stile, Garzanti,1979
(With others) Ostia,[Italy], 1969 published by Garzanti, 1970
Medea(based on the tragedy by Euripides), New Line Cinema, 1970 published as Medea: Un film, Garzanti, 1970
(And author of commentary) Appunti per un'orestiade Africana(also known as Notes for an African Orestes), [Italy], 1970
(Author of commentary) Le Mura di Sana'a,1970
(And composer) Il decameron(based on the book by Giovanni Boccaccio; also known as The Decameron), Produzione Europee Associate/United Artists, 1970 published by Cappelli (Bologna, Italy), 1975
I racconti di Canterbury(based on the book by Geoffrey Chaucer; also known as The Canterbury Tales), United Artists, 1971 published by Cappelli, 1975
(With others) Storie scellerate,[Italy], 1973
Il fiore delle mille e una notte(also known as Arabian Nights, Flower of the Arabian Nights, and A Thousand and One Nights), United Artists, 1974 published by Cappelli, 1975
(With others) Salo o le centiventi giornate di Sodome(also known as Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom and Salo ou les 120 journees de Sodome), United Artists Europa, 1975
Trilogia della vita(contains the screenplays Il decameron, I racconti di Canterbury, and Il fiore delle mille e una notte), edited by Giorgio Gattei, Cappelli, 1975
(Lyricist) Castelporziano, Ostia dei poeti,1981
Calderon(based on his play), 1983
(Story idea) L'intesa, Arpa, 1995
Plays
Affabulazione; Pilade, Greek Theatre, Taormina, Italy, 1969 published by Garzanti, 1977
Orgia,1969 published in Porcile; Orgia; Bestia da stile, Garzanti, 1979
Calderon, Garzanti, 1973
Novels
Ragazzi di vita, Garzanti, 1955 translation by Emile Capouya published as The Ragazzi, Grove (New York City), 1968
Una vita violenta, Garzanti, 1959 translation by William Weaver published as A Violent Life, Jonathan Cape (London, England), 1968
Il sogno di una cosa, Garzanti, 1962 translation by Stuart Hood published as A Dream of Something, Quartet (London, England and New YorkCity), 1988
Teorema, Garzanti, 1968 translation by Stuart Hood published as Theorem, Quartet, 1992
Amado mio, preceduto da Atti impuri(novellas), Garzanti, 1982
Poetry
Poesie e Casarsa, Landi (Bologna, Italy), 1942
Poesie, Primon(San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy), 1945 enlarged edition published by Garzanti, 1970
(With Mario dell'Arco) Poesia dialettale del Novecento, Guanda(Parma, Italy), 1952
Tal cour di un frut: Nel cuore di un fanciullo, Lingua Furlana (Tricesimo, Italy), 1953
Le ceneri di Gramsci, Garzanti, 1957 translation by David Wallacepublished as The Ashes of Gramsci, Spectacular Diseases (Peterborough,England), 1982
L'usignolo della Chiesa Cattolica(title means "The Nightingaleof the Catholic Church"), Longanesi (Milan, Italy), 1958
Sonetto primaverile (1953), All'Insegna del Pesce d'Oro (Milan, Italy), 1960
La religione del mio tempo(title means "The Religion of My Time"),Garzanti, 1961
Poesia in forma di rosa(title means "Poetry in the Shape of a Rose"), Garzanti, 1964
Poesie dimenticate, Societa Filologica Friulana (Udine, Italy), 1965
(With Laura Betti) Potentissimi signora, Longanesi, 1965
Trasumanar e organizzar(title means "Transhumanize and Organize"),Garzanti, 1971
La nuova gioventu: Poesie friulane 1941-1974, Einaudi, 1975
Le poesie, Garzanti, 1975
Poems(bilingual edition; includes "The Ashes of Gramsci"), translated by Norman MacAfee and Luciano Martinengo, Random House/Vintage (New YorkCity), 1982 published as Selected Poems, Calder (London, England), 1984
Roman Poems(bilingual edition), translated by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Francesca Valente, City Lights (San Francisco, CA), 1986
Poetry, selected and translated by Antonio Mazza, afterword by Antonio Mazza, Exile Editions (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1992
Other Writings
I diarii(title means "The Diaries"), Academiuta di Lenga Furlana (Casarsa, Italy), 1945
I pianti, Academiuta di Lenga Furlana, 1946
Dov'e la mia patria, Academiuta di Lenga Furlana, 1949
I parlanti,[Rome, Italy], 1951
La meglio gioventu, Sansoni (Florence, Italy), 1954
Il canto popolare, Meridiana (Milan, Italy), 1954
Dal diario (1945-47)(title means "From the Diary"), Sciascia (Caltanissetta, Italy), 1954
Passione e ideologia (1948-1958)(title means "Passion and Ideology"; literary criticism; includes the essay "Un poeta e dio"), Garzanti, 1960
Roma 1950: Diario, All'Insegna del Pesce d'Oro, 1960
L'odore dell'India, Longanesi (Milan, Italy), 1962 translation by David Price published as The Scent of India, Olive (London, England), 1984
Il cinema dispoesia,1965
Ali dagli occhi azzurri(scenarios and short stories), Garzanti, 1965 translation of selections by John Shepley published as Roman Nights andOther Stories, Marlboro (Marlboro, VT), 1986
Empirismo eretico(essays), Garzanti, 1972 translation by Ben Lawton and Louise K. Barnett published as Heretical Empiricism, Indiana University Press (Bloomington, IN and Indianapolis, IN), 1988
Scritti corsari(title means "Pirate Writings"), Garzanti, 1975
La divina mimesis, Einaudi, 1975 translation by Thomas E. Petersonpublished as The Divine Mimesis, Double Dance (Berkeley, CA), 1980
L'experience heretique: Lange et cinema,[Paris, France], 1976
"Volgar" eloquio, edited by A. Piromalli and D. Scarfoglio, [Naples, Italy], 1976
Warhol, Anselmino (Milan, Italy), 1976
(With others) Pasolini in Friuli, 1943-1949, Arte grafiche friulane (Udine, Italy), 1976
I Turcs tal Friul, edited by Luigi Ciceri, Forum Julii (Udine, Italy), 1976
Lettere agli amici (1941-1945), edited by Luciano Serra, Guanda, 1976
Lettere luterane(essays), Einaudi, 1976 translation by Stuart Hoodpublished as Lutheran Letters, Carcanet (Manchester, England)/Raven Arts (Dublin, Ireland), 1983
Pier Paolo Pasolini e "Il Setaccio" (1942-1943), edited by Mario Ricci, Cappelli, 1977
Le belle bandiere: Dialoghi, 1960-1965, edited by Gian Carlo Ferretti, Editori riuniti (Rome, Italy), 1977
San Paolo, Einaudi, 1977
I disegni, 1941-1975, edited by Giuseppe Zigaina, Edizioni di Vanni Scheiwiller (Milan, Italy), 1978
Il caos, Editori riuniti, 1979
Descrizioni di descrizioni(title means "Descriptions of Descriptions"), edited by Graziella Chiarossi, Einaudi, 1979
Porcile; Orgia; Bestia da stile, Garzanti, 1979
Poesie e pagine ritrovate, edited by Andrea Zanzotto and Nico Naldini, Lato Side (Rome, Italy), 1980
Sette poesie e due lettere, Locusta (Vicenza, Italy), 1985
Lettere, 1940-1954: Con una cronologia della vita e delle opere, edited by Nico Naldini, Einaudi, 1986
Lettere, 1955-1975: Con una cronologia della vita e delle opere, edited by Nico Naldini, Einaudi, 1988
Ciant da li ciampanis, Kaldewey (New York City), 1988
Il portico della morte, edited by Cesare Sagre, Associazione FondoPier Paolo Pasolini (Rome, Italy), 1988
The Letters of Pier Paolo Pasolini, edited by Nico Naldini, translation by Stuart Hood, Quartet, 1992
Editor
(With others) Canzoniere italiano: Antologia della poesia popolare, Guanda, 1955
La poesia popolare italiana(literary criticism), Garzanti, 1960
(With Attilio Bertolucci) Scritorri della realta dell'VIII al XIXsecolo, Garzanti, 1961
(Compiler) Canzione italiano(anthology), two volumes, Garzanti, 1972
Translator
Aeschylus, Orestiade, Einaudi, 1960
Titus Maccius Plautus, Il vantone di Plauto, Garzanti, 1963
Interviews with Pasolini
Oswald Stack, Pasolini on Pasolini, Thames & Hudson/British Film Institute (London, England), 1969
Enrico Magretti, editor, Con Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bulzoni (Rome, Italy), 1977
Ferdinando Camon, Il mestiere di poeta, Garzanti, 1982
Jean Duflot, editor, Il sogno del centauro, Editori riuniti, 1983
Contributor to books, including Donne di Roma, by Sam Waagenaar, Saggiatore (Milan, Italy), 1960; Attalo, by Gioacchino Colizzi, Lara (Rome, Italy), 1968; L'Arte del Romanino e il nostro tempo: Dibattito tenuto a Brescia il 7 settembre 1965 in occasione della mostra di Gerolamo Romanino, Grafo (Brescia, Italy), 1976; The New Italian Poetry, editedand translated by Lawrence R. Smith, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1981; The Hidden Italy, edited and translated by Herman W. Haller, Wayne State University Press (Detroit, MI), 1986. Contributor to periodicals, including Cahiers du Cinema, Cinema, Film Comment, Film Culture, Film Quarterly, Films and Filming, IlTempo, Nuovi Argomenti, Officina, Strumenti Critici,and Wide Angle.

Further Reference

Adaptations:

The 1995 film Who Killed Pasolini? November, 1995,(also known as Pasolini: Un delitto italiano) was based on Pasolini's life and death.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series, Volume 63, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1998.
Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 128: Twentieth-CenturyItalian Poets, Second Series, Gale, 1993.
Rohdie, Sam, The Passion of Pier Paolo Pasolini, Indiana University Press, 1996.
Rumble, Patrick, Allegories of Contamination: Pier Paolo Pasolini's Trilogy of Life,[Toronto, Ontario, Canada], 1996.
Schwartz, Barth David, Pasolini Requiem, Pantheon (New York City),1992.
Siciliano, Enzo, Vita di Pasolini, Rizzoli, 1979, translation by John Shepley published as Pasolini, Random House (New York City), 1982.

Periodicals:

Film Quarterly, summer, 1998, pp. 21-27.
Monthly Review, pp. 34-37.

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