Il Decameron (The Decameron) poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Franco Citti, Gerhard Exel, Giuseppe Zigaina, Jovan Jovanovic, M. Gabriella Frankel ...( see more  see more... ) , Ninetto Davoli , Vincenzo Amato , Wolfgang Hillinger

An adaptation of nine stories from Bocaccio's "Decameron": A young Sicilian is swindled twice, but ends up rich; a man poses as a deaf-mute in a convent of curious nuns; a woman must hide her lover wh...( read more  read more... )en her husband comes home early; a scoundrel fools a priest on his deathbed; three brothers take revenge on their sister's lover; a young girl sleeps on the roof to meet her boyfriend at night; a group of painters wait for inspiration; a crafty priest attempts to seduce his friend's wife; and two friends make a pact to find out what happen= s after death. Pasolini is up to his old tricks satirizing the Church, and throwing in liberal doses of life and love.

Flixster Users

75% liked it

2,544 ratings

Critics

91% liked it

11 critics

R, 1 hr. 50 min.

Directed by: Pier Paolo Pasolini

Release Date: January 1, 1971

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: June 4, 2009

Stats: 107 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

Il Decameron (The Decameron) The Decameron The Decameron Il Decameron (The Decameron) Il Decameron (The Decameron)
Upload a Photo |

View All Il Decameron (The Decameron) Photos (5)

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (107)

  • stopitgoaway
    December 18, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    he unapologetic choice of ancient, crumbling and dirty locations, coupled with the choice of "real-looking" actors devoid of manufactured graces made this film feel right. 14th century Italy surely was as full of natural humour, even in close proximity to death, as this film make...( read more)s out. Casual sex in spite of the threat of mortal sin is treated likewise with candour. A real masterpiece showing humanity in all its various forms.
  • 366weirdmovies
    February 14, 2008
    366weirdmovies
    Pier Paolo Pasolini adapts several stories from Boccacio's "Decameron", focusing on the bawdy and anti-clerical. Slow and arty, and several of the tales fizzle at their climax; rarely have grave-robbing, infiltration into a convent of sex-starved nuns, and dong shots been made ...( read more)so boring. His CANTERBURY TALES and ARABIAN NIGHTS are in the same vein, but somewhat superior.
  • jimbotender
    August 15, 2008
    jimbotender
    Boccaccio would have been proud..and cautious at first,it's a delightful pleasure to watch Decameron,striking images and anarchic events taking place,Pasolini once again bedazzles us.
  • kzhope
    February 7, 2010
    kzhope
    Il Dicameron es una cinta italiana dirigida por Pier Paolo Pasolini. Se trata de una desinhibida comedia negra dividida en varias secuencias independientes que comparten solo el tono lujurioso y el escenario napolitano.

    La película abre con la historia de un adinerado jov...( read more)en que viaja a Nápoles a comprar caballos y que es engañado por una joven que pretende ser su hermana para despojarle de todas sus pertenencias; por lo que, cuando recibe la invitación de unos ladrones para hurtar los ropajes y el rubí de un clérigo recién sepultado, decide quedarse para él la riqueza como una forma de compensar el daño que había recibido. Los relatos que siguen mantienen el tono jocoso del primero pero van adentrándose poco a poco en el tema de la sexualidad; no como un análisis de ésta, sino como una muestra de la verdadera humanidad en su estado más puro. Es entonces que la Italia medieval sirve de escenario para las desventuras de la esposa infiel de un vendedor de jarrones, un supuesto sordomudo que despierta el deseo de las monjas de un convento, un hombre "piadoso" que desenfrena su sexualidad al enterarse de que no hay castigo por eso en el infierno, un cura tratando de convertir a una mujer en yegua y, entre otros, un terrible criminal que termina por ser venerado como un santo. Todo esto llevando a un pintor en busca de inspiración a la conclusión de que la verdadera virtud no puede ser retratada, sino que existe en todas aquellas cosas que forman la concepción humana más elemental.

    Esta obra es, claramente, un filme único, esto debido al uso que se da tanto a los recursos narrativos como a los técnicos. Antes que nada, es importante dejar claro que Il Decameron no es una película erótica; se toma a la sexualidad como uno de los elementos temáticos más importantes y tanto el desnudo como el acto sexual son presentados de forma explícita, sin embargo, el tono humorístico con el que está filmada en su totalidad y el poco énfasis que se hace en el contenido explícito sirven para mostrar a la dimensión sexual como algo natural y no como algo estimulante, sino como algo humano que es visto con sentido del humor por el realizador.

    Teniendo esto en mente, es comprensible la decisión de ambientar la acción en la clase baja napolitana, donde no hay grandes acontecimientos, solo gente haciendo cosas. La cinta tiene como eje principal el contraste que existe entre la naturalidad intrínseca de la sexualidad y la hipocresía que hay en las apariencias de la moralidad de la sociedad y la fe. En este marco es que la religión es retratada como un freno innecesario a la conducta natural del hombre y el sexo es más que una dimensión de la realidad humana: es un reflejo integral del espíritu. En el filme, los protagonistas son, en su mayoría, gente del campo que, tras intentar reprimir todo lo que el dogma les ha dicho que está mal, se entregan a eso sin que la culpa subsecuente sea auténtica.

    El ambiente creado para la representación de las distintas ciudades medievales que hoy conocemos como italia está logrado de forma asombrosa. La fotografía revela la belleza dentro de los sucios callejones napolitanos y es, por momentos, estupenda y creativa en el uso del color y los planos. La actuación se desarrolla dentro del promedio debido a la selección de actores amateur más que nada por su apariencia.

    El montaje completo está constituido para mostrar el lado más alegre de la gente en un periodo de tiempo caracterizado por todo tipo de problemas sociales, para lo que obvia todas las realidades ajenas al sexo y se enfoca al lado más hilarante de este. Sin duda, Il Dicameron es una obra fascinante y un uso muy original del lenguaje cinematográfico para presentar un tema; sin embargo, es necesario decir que la edición no resulta realmente funcional y que la falta de pausas o conexiones entre las distintas secciones de la película hacen la trama demasiado enredada para la simpleza de todas las historias. La dirección de Pier Paolo Pasolini es indudablemente estilizada y logra utilizar la comedia con trasfondo serio de forma notable, aun así, el filme carece de ritmo y por momentos pareciera ir hacia ningún lado.

    Pese a esto, Il Dicameron es una cinta placentera en su forma y efectiva en su mensaje, que utiliza escenas bien construidas (el sueño del pintor es una de las mejores que he visto) para resaltar su tono anarquista y anticlerical si caer en excesos.

    ****
  • qfwfq78
    May 5, 2009
    qfwfq78
    Nice telling of some of the stories on the book
  • Budgeburgess
    April 14, 2009
    Budgeburgess
    'The Decameron' is one Pasolini's trilogy of films ('Arabian Nights' and 'Canterbury Tales' are the others) exploring the role of the storyteller and the translation of this timeless vocal tradition into a cinematic one. The cinema has typically taken on board the format of the n...( read more)ovel - it presents one central story, with maybe a couple of subplots, seen from the point of view of one of the protagonists or of a neutral onlooker. The storytelling tradition, however, while it might include epics like the 'Iliad', generally follows shorter stories, and often relates these to a specific moral.

    Pasolini provides a cavalcade of tales exploring life and death, lust and sex, the materialism of the peasant world, the carnality of life. If there is a moral it is that sex and lust are blessings. Here, sex is presented as a political act - we all have ultimate political control over our own bodies; and here Pasolini explores the nature of belief, contrasting the real, physical, material world of sex and abandonment with the censorship and authoritarianism of religion. Pasolini was fascinated by the interaction of the Marxist and Catholic traditions within Italy ... and with the world of the traditional peasant before they became anachronisms with the growth of cities and the development of an industrialised economy.

    'The Decameron' is set in a medieval world which embodies the traditional values of rough peasant sex, duplicity, and conflict with the moral certainties of the Church. We have nuns forsaking their vows of chastity, cuckolded husbands, a celebration of bodily functions. We have comedy, drama, music. It's lewd, it's bawdy, and there are bodies aplenty.

    Here we have life, bounded by rules, but rules which are often pure hypocrisy. Pasolini prefers the vulgarity of peasant life and its flexible violation of rules - rules of law, rules of religion, rules of social structure and hierarchy. Guilt is created by the Church ... but can be exorcised by the simple expedient of confession. Surely the peasants are more honest in their human breaking of rules ... particularly sexual ones? He rejoices in their superstition, their ignorance, their selfishness and materialism.

    It's a slow paced but exuberant celebration of life in the raw. The visual style is sumptuous in places, aping the colours of medieval art. Pasolini offers characters in his photography - the beautiful and the ugly people, using amateur actors to emphasise the lack of sophistication of the peasant world. His exploration of the nature of storytelling produces overlapping tableau after tableau, short tales which cut straight into the next and challenge the conventional structure of cinema.

    It's engaging, it's entertaining, and it will make you laugh.
  • bbliumis
    January 27, 2009
    bbliumis
    Only if u really like Pasolini...
  • timefl13s
    January 3, 2009
    timefl13s
    No thankyou - Not interested
  • kyo9
    January 2, 2009
    kyo9
    this is what happen when misunderstanding occurred..
  • xxxcli213xxx
    December 13, 2008
    xxxcli213xxx
    ehh. . . . no thanks

View All Il Decameron (The Decameron) Reviews

Critic Reviews

No recent reviews.

View more Il Decameron (The Decameron) reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

This board looks lonely. Be the first to talk about "Il Decameron (The Decameron)" !

Post A Comment | View All Comments

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Andrei Rublev
    Andrei Rublev (100%)
  • Il fiore delle mille e una notte (Flower of the Arabian Nights) (Arabian Nights)
    Il fiore delle mille e una notte (Flower of t... (0%)
  • I Racconti di Canterbury (The Canterbury Tales)
    I Racconti di Canterbury (The Canterbury Tale... (0%)

More Movies like Il Decameron (The Decameron)

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Il Decameron (The... : Watch Free on TV

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for Il Decameron (The Decameron). Want to create one?

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add Il Decameron (The Decameron) to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?