Comizi d'amore (1964)

Microphone in hand, Pier Paolo Pasolini asks Italians to talk about sex: he asks children where babies come from, young and old women if they are men's equals, men and women if a woman's ... See full summary »

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Stars:

Lello Bersani, Alberto Moravia, Cesare Musatti

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lello Bersani	...	Narrator (voice)
Alberto Moravia	...	Himself
Cesare Musatti	...	Himself

Storyline

Microphone in hand, Pier Paolo Pasolini asks Italians to talk about sex: he asks children where babies come from, young and old women if they are men's equals, men and women if a woman's virginity matters, how they view homosexuals, how sex and honor connect, if divorce should be legal, and if they support closing the brothels (the Merlina Act). He periodically checks in with Alberto Moravia and Cesare Musatti. Bersani is intrusive and judgemental, prodding those who answer. The film's thesis: despite the booming post-war economy, Italians' attitudes toward sex are either rigidly Medieval (the poor and the South) or muddled and self-censoring (the bourgeoisie and the North).

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Plot Keywords:

sex | italian | virginity | brothel | sexism | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

23 July 1982 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Assembly of Love

Filming Locations:

Naples, Campania, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arco Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Edited into Lo schermo a tre punte (1995)

User Reviews

Disappointing, but for other reasons.

I too was disappointed, but not for the reasons cited in the previous comment.

Instead, I found the film very hard to follow, with lots of academic buzzwords (interviewer Pasolini refers to "the sex problem" at least 20 times), not all of it subtitled, and subtitles that faded out of legibility against light backgrounds.

The movie was visually unappetizing, in part because of inconsistent and often inept camera work, and in part because of a sloppy transfer to tape that washed out the middle tones and often made it hard to see and read people's faces.

The most annoying element was the recurrent muting of the voice tracks (and of course the accompanying sub-titles) that was labeled "self-censorship." Was this a comment on official censorship of the time? I get the impression that the most interesting answers were lost to the audience through this process.

An interesting and meaty idea from a provocative and often great filmmaker, undercut by directorial inexperience and poor repackaging.