Arabian Nights (1974) Il fiore delle mille e una notte (original title)

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writers:

Pier Paolo Pasolini
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 | Search | Slave | Fate

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Ninetto Davoli	...	Aziz
Franco Citti	...	The Demon
Franco Merli	...	Nur Ed Din
Tessa Bouché	...	Aziza
Ines Pellegrini	...	Zumurrud
Margareth Clémenti	...	Aziz's mother (as Margaret Clementi)
Luigina Rocchi	...	Budur
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
Christian Aligny		(as Christian Alegny)
Salvatore Verdetti	...	Barsum
Jocelyne Munchenbach
Luigi Antonio Guerra
Jeanne Gauffin Mathieu
Francelise Noel
Franca Sciutto
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ali Abdulla	...	(uncredited)
Fessazion Gherentiel	...	Berhane (uncredited)
Giana Idris	...	Giana (uncredited)
Mohamed Ali Zedi	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writing credits
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Dacia Maraini		(script collaboration)

Produced by
Alberto Grimaldi	....	producer

Original Music by
Ennio Morricone

Cinematography by
Giuseppe Ruzzolini

Film Editing by
Nino Baragli
Tatiana Casini Morigi

Production Design by
Dante Ferretti

Costume Design by
Danilo Donati

Makeup Department
Iole Cecchini	....	hair stylist
Massimo Giustini	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Giuseppe Banchelli	....	production supervisor
Mario Di Biase	....	production manager
Alessandro Mattei	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Umberto Angelucci	....	assistant director
Peter Shepherd	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Fausto Ancillai	....	sound mixer
Luciano Welisch	....	sound
Massimo Anzellotti	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Marcello Mastrogirolamo	....	assistant to camera operator
Angelo Pennoni	....	still photographer
Alessandro Ruzzolini	....	camera operator
Claudio Sabatini	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Stephen Bearman	....	colorist
Ugo De Rossi	....	assistant editor
Alfredo Menchini	....	assistant editor
Enzo Ocone	....	supervising editor

Other crew
Beatrice Banfi	....	continuity
Carla Crovato	....	production secretary
Maurizio Forti	....	administrator
Nico Naldini	....	press
Daniele Tiberi	....	administrator

Production Companies

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

Distributors

• United Artists (1974) (USA) (theatrical) (unissued)
• Aidart Distribution Company (1980) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• United Artists (1975) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (Czech Republic)
• Atlantic Film (2009) (Finland) (DVD) (5-disc Pier Paolo Pasolini Collection)
• Atlantic Film (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• BFI Video (2009) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Criterion Collection, The (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• EuroVideo (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
• Future Film (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• United Artists Europa
• Water Bearer Films (1999) (USA) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Rank Film Laboratories

Other Companies

• Cecchetti Speedcoop  transportation
• Ditta Pompei  boots
• Farani  costumes
• Government of Ethiopia  thanks
• Government of Iran, The  thanks
• Government of Nepal  thanks
• Government of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen  thanks
• Government of the Yemen Arab Republic  thanks
• Nis Films  synchronisation
• Rocchetti e Carboni  wigs

Also Known As:

"Il fiore delle mille e una notte" - Italy (original title)
"Flower of the Arabian Nights" - International (English title)

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:

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 | Italy:VM18 | Finland:K-18 (1974) (cut) | Spain:18 | France:-16 | New Zealand:R18

Filming Locations:

Eritrea

Company:

Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA)

Trivia:

Italian censorship visa # 64574 delivered on 11-5-1974.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Hewy's Animated Movie Reviews: The Top 10 Animated Dinosaur Documentaries" (2011)

Fascinating!

Fun to see the comments at two extreme posts. There are things like durian and cheese, either you love it, or you hate it! So below is just my personal opinion and you absolutely don't need to agree with me!

It is true that the characters are quite caricatural, but the movie is about one thousand and one nights - it is about fantasies! Honestly i don't ever find the "dreams" typical of hollywoodian movies more appealing. it is just a matter of taste. in fact, through exaggerations, Pasolini let human strengthens and weaknesses magnified and incarnated in the characters. in a way, they are like cartoon characters. Can we call that bad acting? it is just a style of interpretation. Oh, only if we had the innocence like the actors and actress in the movie ... in fact, somehow i found a bit of resemblance (or to the opposite of it!) in these characters to people i know. only if you observe, man! I especially love the story about Aziz and Aziza...

It is above all a movie about love - and there comes sex naturally, and the jealousy, pain, loyalty, betrayal, etc. Even between the "owner" and the "slave", there was absolutely no slavery involves, but just love! well an exchange took place in the market, but that only showed that the slave was actually free. Pasolini didn't have an obsession for the female body which is usually the case in most movies. Is there anything wrong about that? Or are we just too accustomed to female nudity so we always expect it and we become annoyed about male nudity too easily? Both can be beautiful and deserve the same attention from the camera and the audience.

Talking about female vs. male in the movies, i constantly feel that Pasolini pictured man as a simple but too simple (even stupid) creature, while woman as complex and too complex (either a saint or perversed) when it comes to love. But again, it's about fairy tales. Only if it were true, life would be so much easier!

There were poems cited in almost every story and this was one of the most fascinating elements in the movie as well. you may call it erotic, but look at it another way round, who doesn't want his/her own sex and love life to be as poetic and beautiful. I see the humour in the movie with the same lens.

I was also amazed by the flow of the story line - story within a story, and then a personage in the story starts to tell another story... it can be confusing at first, but as the story flows it all became clearer, and at the end, i was simply amazed. or thanks to the DVD technology too, imagine 30 years back when u had to and could only watch it in one go in a cinema!