I racconti di Canterbury (1972)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writers:

Geoffrey Chaucer (novel)
Pier Paolo Pasolini (writer)

Release Date:

30 May 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Ménage À Trois | Poison | Female Frontal Nudity | Male Full Frontal Nudity | Hell

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Hugh Griffith	...	Sir January
Laura Betti	...	The Wife from Bath
Ninetto Davoli	...	Perkin
Franco Citti	...	The Devil
Josephine Chaplin	...	May
Alan Webb	...	Old Man
Pier Paolo Pasolini	...	Geoffrey Chaucer
J.P. Van Dyne	...	The Cook
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	The Franklin
Adrian Street	...	Fighter
O.T.	...	Chief Witch-Hunter
Derek Deadman	...	The Pardoner (as Derek Deadmin)
Nicholas Smith	...	Friar
George Bethell Datch	...	Host of the Tabard (as George B. Datch)
Dan Thomas	...	Nicholas

Also Known As:

Les contes de Canterbury (France)
The Canterbury Tales (USA)

Runtime:

Argentina:112 min | USA:109 min (cut) | Italy:112 min | West Germany:140 min (Berlin Film Festival) (premiere) | France:118 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian | English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:VM14 (re-rating) (1988) | Italy:VM18 (original rating) | Finland:K-15 (cinema release) (1973) | Finland:K-18 (DVD rating) (2004) | UK:15 (video rating) (uncut) (2001) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:15 | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | USA:X (original rating) | West Germany:16 | USA:NC-17 (re-rating) (1991) | Ireland:18 | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Bath, Somerset, England, UK

Company:

Les Productions Artistes Associés

Trivia:

As with Pasolini's subsequent film in the trilogy, The Arabian Nights, United Artists released the film domestically through its rarely tapped Aidart subsidiary, in order to distance the company from any controversy.

Movie Connections:

References The Circus (1928)

Best Italian film ever

When I was going to see "Canterbury Tales", I knew Pasolini was infamous director who made crazy films, that weren't for everyone's taste.When I saw it. It was one of those movie experiences that change the way you see films. It's not that I loved this film, I don't see how I can use word "love" here. It's just that from the beginning to the end I couldn't believe my eyes. Sequence after sequence, the movie became one of the most original films I ever seen in my life. Wife having sex standing on her husband's shoulders, woman farting in the face of the young boy who loves her, drunken man, p***ing on dining people, giant ass, that defecates with demons, it's shocking, yes, but it's not the point. The point is,we believe every single thing we see on the screen. Of course, it's because Pasolini uses natural lightning, unprofessional actors, and partly because when there is fucking on the screen, it's not simulation, it's real f**king (what other film can be classified as "porn", and also have Oscar-winning costume designer in its credits?). But it's not the reason. I always admired Pasolini, because he was one of those people, who make others respect them, who have remained hip even twenty years after they are dead. And being this incredibly fascinating person, he could put part of the magic that made him the person he was into his movies.