Il fiore delle mille e una notte (1974)

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writers:

Pier Paolo Pasolini (writer)
Dacia Maraini (script collaboration)

Release Date:

20 June 1974 (Italy)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

Tagline:

Pier Paolo Pasolini's Tales of the Arabian Nights

Plot:

In this film inspired by the ancient erotic and mysterious tales of the Middle East, the main story...

Plot Keywords:

Demon | Love | Slave | Flashback Sequence | Arabia

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Ninetto Davoli	...	Aziz
Franco Citti	...	The Demon
Franco Merli	...	Nur Ed Din
Tessa Bouché	...	Aziza (as Tessa Bouche)
Ines Pellegrini	...	Zumurrud
Margareth Clémenti	...	Aziz's mother (as Margaret Clementi)
Luigina Rocchi	...	Aziz's wife
Alberto Argentino	...	Prince Shahzmah
Francesco Paolo Governale	...	Prince Tagi
Salvatore Sapienza	...	Prince Yunan
Zeudi Biasolo	...	Zeudi
Barbara Grandi
Elisabetta Genovese	...	Munis (as Elisabetta Vito Genovese)
Gioacchino Castellini
Abadit Ghidei	...	Princess Dunya

Also Known As:

A Thousand and One Nights
Arabian Nights (USA)
Flower of the Arabian Nights (International: English title)
Les mille et une nuits (France)

Runtime:

130 min | France:155 min (Cannes Film Festival) (premiere)

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:VM18 | Finland:K-18 (1974) (cut) | Spain:18 | France:-16 | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:R | Hong Kong:III | Norway:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (2001) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | USA:X (original rating) (1979) | West Germany:12 | USA:NC-17 (re-rating) (1991) | Singapore:(Banned) | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Eritrea

Company:

Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA)

Trivia:

This film is the final entry in director Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Trilogy of Life", following Il Decameron (1971) and I racconti di Canterbury (1972).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Wie de Waarheid Zegt Moet Dood (1981)

Strange, Poetic Filled with Moments of Greatness

This was the penultimate film of the great Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini. It also concludes his "Trilogy of Life", based on medieval story collections (the others are "The Decameron" and "The Canterbury Tales"). Like the others in the series, this is a portmanteau film (i.e. the film is not just one story but several).

The film begins with a young man's search for his slave girl lover, who has been abducted. Along the way, several stories from "The Arabian Nights" are told.

The film has a very loose structure. There are stories, within stories, within stories. This can be quite confusing at times. It was filmed in Iran, Yemen and Nepal and the countries look absolutely spectacular. The main flaw of the film is that it does show signs of being hastily cut (Pasolini himself reduced the film by half an hour before general release, and there may have been cuts due to the censors). This often makes the film seem quite disjointed. One of the dominant themes in this film is love and sex, and yes, there is a lot of explicit nudity here.

The film touches on dreams, reality, deception, truth, freedom and slavery. While by no means perfect, there are times when the Pasolini's genius and humanity shines through.