The Decameron (1971)
"Il Decameron" (original title)

An adaptation of nine stories from Bocaccio's "Decameron": A young man from Perugia is swindled twice in Naples, but ends up rich; a man poses as a deaf-mute in a convent of curious nuns; a... See full summary »

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writers:

Giovanni Boccaccio (novel), Pier Paolo Pasolini

Stars:

Franco Citti, Ninetto Davoli, Jovan Jovanovic

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Franco Citti	...	Ciappelletto
Ninetto Davoli	...	Andreuccio of Perugia
Jovan Jovanovic	...	Rustico (scenes deleted)
Vincenzo Amato	...	Masetto of Lamporecchio
Angela Luce	...	Peronella
Giuseppe Zigaina	...	Monk
Maria Gabriella Maione	...	(as Gabriella Frankel)
Vincenzo Cristo
Pier Paolo Pasolini	...	Allievo di Giotto (as P.P. Pasolini)
Giorgio Iovine
Salvatore Bilardo
Vincenzo Ferrigno	...	Giannello
Luigi Seraponte
Antonio Diddio
Mirella Catanesi

Storyline

An adaptation of nine stories from Bocaccio's "Decameron": A young man from Perugia is swindled twice in Naples, but ends up rich; a man poses as a deaf-mute in a convent of curious nuns; a woman must hide her lover when 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.

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Plot Keywords:

priest | church | nun | convent | painter | 

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Taglines:

Ribaldry! Rakes and libertines. Raised skirts and lowered lashes. A blush on every cheek. Pasolini. Filming The Decameron. Bringing life to art...and art to life.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sensuality, and for some language

Details

Country:

Italy France West Germany

Language:

Italian Neapolitan

Release Date:

1971 (France)

Also Known As:

The Decameron

Filming Locations:

Amalfi, Salerno, Campania, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA), Les Productions Artistes Associés, Artemis Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Italian censorship visa # 10-7-1971.

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Goofs

When Caterina sleeps with Riccardo a tan line can be seen on her back left a by bikini top. However the bikini was not in use in 14th century Italy.

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Connections

Featured in The Interpreter of Black and White Films (2007)

User Reviews

The movie is lively, gutsy, and quite funny…

This is the first of Pasolini's three feature-film adaptations of obscene tales of antiquity, the other two being "The Canterbury Tales" and "The Arabian Nights." It contains ten of Boccaccio's most famous tales… The bawdiest story concerns a merchant who back-doors his partner's wife by promising to tell her his secret of turning a woman to a female horse and back to a woman again...

The tale of the two lovers sleeping together on the terrace is quite nice and very erotic, but the most hilarious one involves a young man who pretends he's a deaf mute in order to get into a convent... Once inside, he discovers that the sisters are very curious about all the excitement the world has made over sex and want to find out if it is worth it...

The stories are quite funny and the acting is adequate especially for non-professionals… But the film's charm is in its unrefined energy…It spends as much time showing nude men as it does showing nude women, which was quite unusual for its time…