BUY AT:
See more details, packaging, or compare
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
Pier Paolo Pasolini’s documentary Love Meetings is presented on the third dual-layer Blu-ray disc in Criterion’s recent box set, Pasolini 101. The film is presented with a 1080p/24hz high-definition encode in the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The presentation has been sourced from a 4K restoration taken from scans of the original 35mm and 16mm negatives.
Due to its loose nature (the film primarily consists of Pasolini interviewing random subjects off the street), I didn’t have high expectations for the presentation. Yet, much to my surprise, it is probably one of the stronger ones in the set. The restoration work has left very little behind outside of a handful of small bits of dirt and such, while the scan has captured every tiny detail possible. Grayscale is vast, and blacks look deep without eating up detail in the shadows. This ultimately gives it a sharp photographic look in the end.
The encode looks good, though it falters a bit here and there. When it comes to the 35mm material, grain seemed very sharp and clean, with no noticeable artifacts popping up. On the other hand, the 16mm material can sometimes look a little buzzy and noisy. It’s not as evident as what Criterion’s presentation for Epidemic delivered during its 16mm portions, but there’s a noticeable leap.
Outside of those instances, the presentation looks terrific.
Pasolini 101 - Screen Captures
Audio 6/10
The monaural soundtrack (presented in lossless single-channel PCM) perfectly suits the film. It’s not the most dynamic mix, but it’s clear with no distortion and noise. Some of the songs that pop up sound pretty good as well, delivering a bit of range.
Extras 4/10
Sadly Criterion only includes a couple of short features. Alongside the film’s trailer, Criterion includes two other features. There’s a 4-minute short by Agnès Varda entitled Varda Meets Pasolini, assembled from footage she filmed of Pasolini during a visit to New York. Over the top of the footage, Varda recounts a discussion with him, where the director shared his thoughts about poverty in the city and how cinema works off of “layers of reality.”
The other feature is a short 13-minute documentary from 1967 directed by Maurizio Ponzi, entitled Notes for a Critofilm. With Ninetto Davoli appearing (who is also used for a few demonstrations), the piece looks at Pasolini’s “cinematic language,” whether it be through framing or how a character is presented walking down the street. There’s also a look at the artworks and films that influenced his work, including Chaplin and The Passion of Joan of Arc influencing Mamma Roma and The Hawks and the Sparrows, respectively. The best portion, though, is a breakdown of the final portion of Love Meetings, first showing it in its entirety and then stepping through how the sequence has been assembled. It’s short but rewarding.
They’re both great inclusions, but the lack of anything new looking at the film is disappointing.
Closing
Sparse on features, but the presentation is one of the stronger ones in the set.
BUY AT:
