L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 32 L'Italo-Americano T h e c i t y o f L o s A n g e l e s c e l e - brates the hun- dredth anniver- sary of the birth of the Italian director Pier- paolo Pasolini (March 5, 1922) with an integral retro- s p e c t i v e e n t i t l e d C a r n a l knowledge: the films of Pierpaolo Pasolini. Born from the collabora- tion between Cinecittà and the Academy Museum of Motion Picture, the retro- spective will take place until March 12 inside the building d e s i g n e d b y R e n z o P i a n o and inaugurated last year. The program provides for t h e u s e o f 3 5 m m c o p i e s restored by Cinecittà and lays the foundations for an agreement that provides for the stable programming of r e v i e w s , e x h i b i t i o n s a n d activities dedicated to Italian c i n e m a f o r t h e n e x t f i v e years. This retrospective will span Pasolini's three main periods: his reinvention of Italian neorealism as a pow- e r f u l l y l y r i c a l v e h i c l e f o r d e v a s t a t i n g p o r t r a i t s o f m o d e r n l i f e ( A c c a t t o n e , M a m m a R o m a ) ; h i s g o r y portraits of the depravity of European society (Teorema, Porcile); his shocking Trilo- gy of Life, a celebration of the primary pleasures of sex s e t i n a n t i q u i t y , a n d i t s antithesis, the devastating a n d g r i m W W I I h o r r o r show, Salò. T h e o p e n i n g n i g h t w a s held in the presence of Oscar winner Dante Ferretti, set and costume designer, who inaugurated the retrospec- tive remembering Pasolini, of whom he was a long-time c o l l a b o r a t o r : " I o w e m y career to him, I began as an a s s i s t a n t s e t d e s i g n e r o n t h r e e f i l m , s t a r t i n g f r o m The Gospel according to St. Matthew, before sign- ing my first scenography for Medea, with Maria Callas. It was a relationship of trust that lasted until his last film, Salò or the 120 days of S o d o m . I l e a r n e d o f h i s death while I was walking with Elio Petri, it was a very hard blow." Ferretti, who specifically flew to Los Ange- les to celebrate his artist friend, added: "Twenty years ago, Cinecittà and the Acad- emy created a beautiful exhi- b i t i o n o f m y d r a w i n g s . Tonight, we are celebrating a n o t h e r g r e a t m o m e n t o f f r i e n d s h i p b e t w e e n t w o institutions so attentive to safeguarding the heritage of world cinema." D a n t e , t h i s e v e n i n g you said to the audience in the movie theatre that you owe everything to Pierpaolo Pasolini. How did your collaboration start? I o w e e v e r y t h i n g t o Pasolini because I started my second film, The Gospel according to St Matthew, at 18 as an assistant set design- er. I remember that he high- ly esteemed me even though I was only an assistant. My boss, Luigi Scaccianoce did- n't come often on the set as he was working on two films at the same time, so Pasolini turned to me a lot. Through- out the years of our collabo- r a t i o n a n d f r i e n d s h i p w e have always addressed for- mally. He was very kind and v e r y s w e e t . W h e n e v e r h e asked me for the things he needed, I did everything to d o t h e m a s h e w a n t e d , sometimes I even invented, s u g g e s t e d a n d a d v i s e d things from a scenography point of view, which is what gives the story the atmos- phere. He was always satis- fied. H o w i m p o r t a n t w a s scenography for Pasolini in his films? P a s o l i n i g a v e a l o t o f importance to the scenogra- phy because the visual part i s t h e s t o r y t e l l i n g o f t h e s t o r y . W h i l e t h i n g s o f t e n seem to be shot simply, they are designed to be so, so that the narrative is perceived in a specific way. Inspecting the set and the location was therefore very important for him because it was linked to the plot, and the plot very often adapted to the places that were interesting and suitable for what he wanted to tell. I made 9 films with him, different films but all period films. The only more current film is Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom, current to the period in which it was shot, the fascist era, other- wise the others were histori- cal films. I went through a lot of history with him. What memory do you have of the your meet- ing? I remember that the first meeting was for The Gospel according to St Matthew, when we checked out loca- tions with Luigi Scaccianoce. I f o l l o w e d t h e m t o t r y t o understand what we should be looking for. What hap- pened was that Pasolini went alone to see the places first and when he had identified what he was interested in, he called the set designer and explained what he wanted to convey in the film. This was very important for him: not only discovering those places but also the feeling that was suggested by them. Places that were often totally differ- ent from how they were orig- inally written in the script. Which films you shot with Pasolini remained p a r t i c u l a r l y i n y o u r heart? Oedipus Rex was the one that gave me the most satis- faction because Scaccianoce rarely came to the set and I took it all on. I remember t h a t P a s o l i n i s e n t m e t o R o m e t o D e L a u r e n t i i s , where two interior sets that were used for the film had been built and he said to me: " G o a n d s e e w h a t S c a c - cianoce did because I don't think it goes well with what we did." I went and since it actually wasn't going well, I changed everything; Pasolini commented "Now it's fine, that's how I wanted it." Any other anecdotes of your collaboration? W h e n w e m a d e T h e Gospel we shot part of the film near Viterbo, in a place where there was the Chia Tower, the remains of an old castle, and where there was the river where Jesus Christ was baptized in the film. He liked this castle very much and one day he said to me: "What do you say if I take it a n d f i x i t t o m a k e i t m y home?" There was only a wall, a tower, and a large d o o r . S o I t o o k c a r e o f designing a house, at the foot of the tower, a stone and g l a s s h o u s e c a m o u f l a g e d among the rocks and green- ery. Using glass, the environ- m e n t b e c a m e c o m p l e t e l y transparent and the histori- cal value of the ruin that had remained untouched was not lost. He then later lived in that place where, from the outside, he could be seen inside and he saw everything that was outside. He slept as if he were outdoors. You also witnessed a football match, the chal- l e n g e w i t h d i r e c t o r B e r n a r d o B e r t o l u c c i . W h a t m e m o r y d o y o u have of that episode? I remember that while we were shooting Salò or the 1 2 0 D a y s o f S o d o m n e a r B o l o g n a , B e r t o l u c c i w a s shooting another film near Parma. Since Pasolini was v e r y f o n d o f f o o t b a l l a n d liked to play, one Sunday a m a t c h w a s o r g a n i z e d b e t w e e n t h e t e a m o f o u r crew and that of Bernardo Bertolucci. The two of them were longtime friends but there was a moment when they didn't get along very w e l l , t h e y h a d a r g u e d . I remember that we played, actually everyone except me who didn't play football, and we lost. That game, however, brought them back together because immediately after- ward we all went to dinner together and I remember that on that occasion Pasoli- n i m a d e h i s p e a c e w i t h Bertolucci. Dante Ferretti (Photo courtesy of Academy Museum Foundation) LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY Oscar winner Dante Ferretti celebrates Pierpaolo Pasolini SILVIA GIUDICI

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