Teorema (1968)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writers:

Pier Paolo Pasolini (novel)
Pier Paolo Pasolini (screenplay)

Release Date:

7 September 1968 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

There are only 923 words spoken in "Teorema" - but it says everything!

Plot:

A strange visitor in a wealthy family. He seduces the maid, the son, the mother, the daughter and finally the father before leaving a few days after...

Plot Keywords:

Male Rear Nudity | Christ Allegory | Family Crisis | Francis Bacon | Class Conflict

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Silvana Mangano	...	Lucia, the mother
Terence Stamp	...	The Visitor
Massimo Girotti	...	Paolo, the father
Anne Wiazemsky	...	Odetta, the daughter
Laura Betti	...	Emilia, the servant
Andrés José Cruz Soublette	...	Pietro, the son
Ninetto Davoli	...	Angelino - the Messenger
Carlo De Mejo	...	Boy
Adele Cambria	...	Emilia - the second servant
Luigi Barbini	...	Boy at the station
Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia	...	Second boy (as Ivan Scratuglia)
Alfonso Gatto	...	Doctor

Also Known As:

Theorem

Runtime:

105 min | Australia:104 min | Germany:97 min | Finland:99 min (cinema release) (1971)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian | English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:(Banned) (original rating) | Italy:VM18 (re-rated) | Spain:18 | Australia:MA (TV rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Finland:K-16 | France:-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1994) | UK:X (original rating) | West Germany:16 (bw) | Brazil:18

Filming Locations:

Cascina Torre Bianca, Pavia, Lombardia, Italy

Company:

Aetos Produzioni Cinematografiche

Trivia:

Second part of Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Mythical Cycle" also including Edipo re (1967/I), Porcile (1969) and Medea (1969).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Wie de Waarheid Zegt Moet Dood (1981)

Soundtrack:

Tears for Dolphy

surprisingly trite

This is Pasolini's primary anti-bourgeoisie film and is sort of a complementary companion of Luis Bunuel's "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie." While Bunuel's film attacks the European post-war middle class (slightly different from America's middle class, though just as apathetic and selfish) with mockery, humiliation, and eventually destruction, Pasolini takes a more soulful route, revealing the hidden desires of a class stifled by social dogma and propriety. Rather than turn them into effigy, he allows them to have epiphanies, realizing their inner hollowness, and taking different paths to self-fulfillment. "Teorema" means "theorem," and in this case, the mysterious, beautiful stranger embodied by Terrence Stamp offers proof of a certain Italian bourgeois family's misgivings. Pasolini here offers a lucid statement, less political than Bunuel, but just as poetic. His execution, however, is dry and hokey, as Stamp encounters each family member almost mathematically. While the actors provide genuine emotion (particuarly in facial expressions, which Pasolini, in his entire body of work, has shown overwhelming appreciation for), the structure of the film is so tight that he almost sucks the life right out of his message. It's a curious film, though, not completely lacking in entertainment value. In a way, it plays out like a sonnet or other tightly structured poem type. Recommended is "Porcile," made by Pasolini, with similar themes, but presented more organically.