Although Pier Paolo Pasolini loved re-envisioning classical literature, he did not like to make them into period pieces. On the contrary, he turned to those essential Western civilization texts as a way of criticizing contemporary society. Altering minor details such as locations was common in his works. For this reason, Salo is no longer based on events taking place in France during the French revolution but rather it is set in Mussolini era Italy. The Decameron still occurs in 14th-century Italy, but now it takes place in southern areas of the country characterized by Neapolitan dialects spoken by its characters. In Pasolini’s opinion, This aspect condemned what the rich northerners were doing to the exploited south and this applies here.
The Decameron is a title of a book by Giovanni Boccaccio. It means “Ten Days Event” in English translation. Pasolini stars as a young painter who paints a mural and the short films that make up this adaptation are framed by this mural. These stories acknowledge all humanity’s wildness, lust, obsession and wantonness. Part of what Pasolini is doing here is an extension of what he did in Accattone and Mamma Roma which was searching for holiness among peasants. Pasolini’s point here with Theorem, however, is that the ruling class has no spirit as they are simply tragic accidents waiting to occur. Going back to medieval literature forms part of the director’s quest to salvage meaning from being human hence shedding off the capitalist monster that dominated his time.
Pasolini chooses to interweave several of Boccaccio’s stories, particularly the story of Ciappelletto. This man spent most of his life committing crimes but on his deathbed, when interrogated by a priest to make confession, he admits to only one sin- being angry with his mother for spilling some milk when he was young. Having just pretended immense guilt over this matter, Ciappelletto deceives the priest into concluding that the sick person is a saint. Earlier on we see Ciappelletto pickpocketing in parts which coincide with Masetto’s and Peronella’s’ plots respectively.
Masetto is a youth who becomes employed as groundskeeper at a convent. He tricks the Mother Superior into believing he is deaf and dumb, and despite being young and handsome she allows him inside. Two younger nuns decide to sleep with Masetto since they think that he cannot expose them. He goes along with it and other nuns learn about this chance within their walls. In time, he is so tired from all these nonstop sexual activities that he speaks out to Mother Superior labeling it as a miracle that restored his voice and hearing abilities. So that they can have him around for every woman there; it’s an awesome excuse to be left in the convent itself.
A cuckold’s story, Peronella is a classic that reminds one of tales from Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. As she has sex with her lover, Giannello, Peronella’s foolish husband arrives home. Her boyfriend hides in a large clay pot they own and which Giannello has just brought back home. He has gotten a buyer and is anxious to sell it off. She therefore makes up a story that she already sold it to another person thus her lover jumps out of the pot like he was sent to examine its conditions. The boyfriend pretends that dirtiness surrounds the interior part of this pot causing Peronella to order her better half to clean the mess, especially when she resumes having sex with him again while sitting on top of the sink.
By combining these shorts with other ones, Pasolini creates a mural in film that parallels the one his character paints. The original text has 100 stories, but they have been reduced to ten only; however, these are ten of the most famous and Pasolini’s best-liked ones. Through the original copy, Boccaccio molded Italian by making the Tuscan dialect as the standard. In other words, Pasolini’s retelling of the story through Neopolitan voices is a direct allusion to that, and it is also a reminder about those cultures which had been marginalized once one dialect was given preference over another.
This first Othering set off a chain reaction that Pasolini could see in how poor the people of southern Italy became.
Pasolini researches the way humans interacted in the non-market era. It is clearly not an angelic one; their “sins” were somewhat innocent and corresponded to natural human desires. Sex is the underlying force behind practically every narrative. There may be occasional cuckolds but in all cases, everyone agrees and none wants his/her partner for control or authority but only enjoyment for itself: even friendly sex before movies became a matter of voyeurism through cameras. The sex is detailed, and you will see fully erect penises, there is no romanticism involved here. They are not in love with each other so much as they are just horny.
Pasolini’s Decameron yearns for a time when capitalism hadn’t trained everybody to deny themselves and consume ceaselessly. He intentionally interchanges certain characters occupations taking them often from the noble class to more ordinary jobs. The idea is obvious: this kind of pure fun world can never co-exist with the bourgeoisie. People are not programmable machines, that’s why we have been withheld from being ourselves naturally .
This will not be the last time Pasolini makes this observation, for The Decameron is the first film in his Trilogy of Life. I will be reviewing my next movie.
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