Pasolini 101
The Gospel According to Matthew
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Synopsis
One of the most original and controversial thinkers of the twentieth century, Italian polymath Pier Paolo Pasolini embodied a multitude of often seemingly contradictory ideologies and identities—and he expressed them all in his provocative, lyrical, and indelible films. Relentlessly concerned with society’s downtrodden and marginalized, he elevated pimps, hustlers, sex workers, and vagabonds to the realm of saints, while depicting actual saints with a radical earthiness. Traversing the sacred and the profane, the ancient and the modern, the mythic and the personal, the nine uncompromising, often scandal-inciting features he made in the 1960s still stand—on this, the 101st anniversary of his birth—as a monument to his daring vision of cinema as a form of resistance.
Picture 8/10
The fourth disc in Criterion’s box set, Pasolini 101, features The Gospel According to Matthew in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on a dual-layer disc. The 1080p/24hz high-definition presentation is sourced from a new 4K restoration overseen by The Criterion Collection and L’Immagine Ritrovata, taken from a scan of the 35mm original camera negative.
Some source-related rough edges aside, the new presentation for the film looks striking. There are a few frame jumps and shifts (usually around cuts) and a handful of sequences that look a hair out-of-focus, but the source materials have been thoroughly cleaned otherwise. I didn’t notice any severe marks or scratches, and the image is stable outside of those few jumps.
The digital presentation is also immaculate, rendering grain and finer details naturally and sharply, at least when the photography allows for it. Grayscale is also incredibly wide with excellent gradation, which also aids the handful of smokey shots that appear. Ultimately, it’s a superb-looking restoration with a beautiful digital delivery.
Pasolini 101 - Screen Captures
Audio 6/10
Some background noise is audible in the film’s Italian monaural soundtrack (presented in lossless single-channel PCM), yet there is no heavy damage. Range can be surprisingly wide, the score (primarily Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion,” alongside a couple of surprising inserts) sounding particularly good, and though the dialogue has been looped, it delivers decent fidelity.
Extras 5/10
The disc sadly only features one significant supplement, though it’s a good one: Pasolini’s 1965 documentary/travelogue Scouting in Palestine. Accompanied by a Catholic priest and a newsreel photographer, Pasolini scouts the areas represented in the Gospel with the explicit intent of filming there. Unfortunately, for Pasolini (as he explains in his voice-over commentary and discussions with the accompanying priest), the area is a.) “contaminated by the present” and b.) not as grand as he thought it would, outside of the area around the Red Sea. He uses the word “small” a lot when describing the landscape, and it’s clear that he was expecting a grandeur that just wasn’t there. Through his narration, he spins off ideas of how he will work around this, stating he’ll have to adapt his ”mind’s eye” to the landscape instead of the other way around.
He also visits Arab villages, reflects on the poverty he sees, and also visits other key locations, including Nazareth and Jerusalem, commenting on their modern aspects. Criterion also includes 3 minutes’ worth of outtakes, which also features narration from a third party (I assumed a cab driver, though I’m not sure). The disc then closes with The Gospel According to Matthew’s trailer, which promises a “visual and musical Gospel.”
As with several other titles in the set, the lack of any academic material is a huge disappointment, but the documentary is one of the set’s most vital features.
Closing
The lack of new academic features is incredibly disappointing, but the new presentation looks excellent.
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