The Decameron (1971) Il Decameron (original title)

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writers:

Pier Paolo Pasolini
Giovanni Boccaccio (novel)

Release Date:

1971 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Pasolini - Sacred and Profane

Plot:

An adaptation of nine stories from Bocaccio's "Decameron": A young man from Perugia is swindled twice in Naples...

Plot Keywords:

Priest | Church | Nun | Convent | Painter

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

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
Vincenzo De Luca
Erminio Nazzaro
Giovanni Filidoro		(as Giovanni Filadoro)
Lino Crispo
Alfredo Sivoli
Guido Alberti	...	Musciatto, wealthy merchant
Giacomo Rizzo
E. Jannotta Carrino
Vittorio Vittori	...	Don Giovanni
Gianni Rizzo	...	Father Superior
Adriana Donnorso
E. Maria De Juliis
Patrizia De Clara	...	Nun
Guido Mannari
Michele Di Matteo
Giani Esposito		(as Giovanni Esposito)
Giovanni Scagliola
Giovanni Davoli
Monique van Vooren	...	Queen of Skulls (as Monique Van Voren)
Enzo Spitaleri	...	Monk
Luciano Telli	...	Monk
Annie Marguerite Latroye
Gerhard Exel		(as Gerard Exel)
Wolfgang Hillinger
Franco Marletta
Vittorio Fanfoni
Detlef Uhle		(as Uhle Detlef Gerd)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Patrizia Capparelli	...	Alibech (scenes deleted)
Lucio Amatelli	...	(uncredited)
Giuseppe Arrigio	...	Lorenzo (uncredited)
Giuliano Fratello	...	(uncredited)
Elisabetta Genovese	...	Caterina (uncredited)
Silvana Mangano	...	The Madonna (uncredited)

Directed by
Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Giovanni Boccaccio		novel "Decameron" (as G. Boccaccio)
Pier Paolo Pasolini

Produced by
Alberto Grimaldi	....	producer
Franco Rossellini	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Ennio Morricone		(as Mº Ennio Morricone)

Cinematography by
Tonino Delli Colli

Film Editing by
Nino Baragli
Tatiana Casini Morigi		(as Tatiana Morigi)

Casting by
Alberto De Stefanis

Art Direction by
Dante Ferretti

Set Decoration by
Andrea Fantacci

Costume Design by
Danilo Donati

Makeup Department
Iole Cecchini	....	hair stylist (as Jole Cecchini)
Alessandro Jacoponi	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Mario Di Biase	....	production manager
Sergio Galiano	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Umberto Angelucci	....	assistant director
Sergio Citti	....	assistant director
Paolo Andrea Mettel	....	assistant director

Art Department
Carlo Agate	....	assistant art director
Italo Tomassi	....	set designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Gianni D'Amico	....	assistant sound mixer: original version
Mario Morigi	....	sound mixer: original version
Pietro Spadoni	....	sound
Massimo Anzellotti	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Giovanni Ciarlo	....	camera operator
Giuseppe Fornari	....	assistant camera
Alessio Gelsini Torresi	....	assistant camera (as Alessio Gelsini)
Carlo Tafani	....	assistant camera
Mario Tursi	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Piero Cicoletti	....	wardrobe assistant

Editorial Department
Anita Cacciolati	....	assistant editor
Enzo Ocone	....	supervising editor

Other crew
Beatrice Banfi	....	continuity
Vittorio Bucci	....	production assistant
Giuseppe Anatrelli	....	voice dubbing (uncredited)
Eugene Rizzo	....	unit publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA)
• Les Productions Artistes Associés (co-production)
• Artemis Film (co-production)

Distributors

• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• United Artists (1971) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Atlantic Film (2009) (Finland) (DVD) (5-disc Pier Paolo Pasolini Collection)
• Criterion Collection, The (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• EuroVideo (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• United Artists (1971) (USA) (subtitled)

Other Companies

• Farani  costumes

Also Known As:

"Il Decameron" - Italy (original title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sensuality, and for some language (re-rating) (1991)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

Italy | France | West Germany

Language:

Italian | Neapolitan

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Canada:R | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:11 | UK:18 (video rating) (1988) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R (re-rating) (1991) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | USA:X (original rating) | Italy:VM18 | Spain:18 | West Germany:18 (nf) | New Zealand:R18

Filming Locations:

Amalfi, Salerno, Campania, Italy

Company:

Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA)

Trivia:

Italian censorship visa # 10-7-1971.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: 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.

Movie Connections:

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

The pleasures of fornication

During the years immediately preceding the spellbinding horrors of his swansong "Salo", Pasolini created a trilogy of bawdy romps based on "The Decameron", "The Canterbury Tales" and "The Arabian Nights". They are conceived very much in the same vein as the earlier "Gospel According to Saint Matthew" with the accent on realism rather than stylisation. Thus the ancient buildings and open landscapes often teem with crowds of people. The subject matter is of course very different, but what fun it all is! "The Decameron" is, to my mind, the most original of the three. It seems almost to be without form. Stories start and end abruptly, as if, having milked a tale of its naughtiness, the director is anxious to get on with another without the delay of a preamble. What I like most about the film is the sheer happiness of so many of the characters. Although some suffer embarrassing discomfort (the buffoon who falls up to his neck into a privy), most have a highly enjoyable old time; the young convent gardener for instance who, feigning deaf and dumbness, has it off with a procession of nuns, who in turn register the joy of having witnessed "a miracle" when he eventually decides to speak. But my favourites are the young couple who have a naked lovers' tryst on a rooftop. The girl tells her parents that she is going there to listen to the song of the nightingale. In a film where everyone is mainly happy even the parents register pleasure that their daughter has "caught her nightingale" when they discover the young couple nakedly fondling each other after what one can only imagine to have been the night of all nights of lovemaking from the blissful start we have witnessed.

Was ever a young couple more perfectly endowed! In a film where many, including some of the young, are gap-toothed, their smiles reveal perfect sets. I presume they are real!