Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Franco Citti | ... | Ciappelletto | |
Ninetto Davoli | ... | Andreuccio of Perugia | |
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Jovan Jovanovic | ... | Rustico (scenes deleted) |
Vincenzo Amato | ... | Masetto of Lamporecchio | |
Angela Luce | ... | Peronella | |
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Giuseppe Zigaina | ... | Monk |
Maria Gabriella Maione | ... | (as Gabriella Frankel) | |
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Vincenzo Cristo | ||
Pier Paolo Pasolini | ... | Allievo di Giotto (as P.P. Pasolini) | |
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Giorgio Iovine | ||
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Salvatore Bilardo | ||
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Vincenzo Ferrigno | ... | Giannello |
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Luigi Seraponte | ||
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Antonio Diddio | ||
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Mirella Catanesi |
An adaptation of nine stories from Bocaccio's "Decameron": **** Segment 1: A young man from Perugia is swindled twice in Naples, but ends up rich; **** Segment 2: A man poses as a deaf-mute in a convent of curious nuns; **** Segment 3: A woman must hide her lover when her husband comes home early; **** Segment 4: A scoundrel fools a priest on his deathbed; **** Segment 5: Three brothers take revenge on their sister's lover; **** Segment 6: A young girl sleeps on the roof to meet her boyfriend at night; **** Segment 7: A group of painters wait for inspiration; **** Segment 8: A crafty priest attempts to seduce his friend's wife; **** Segment 9: Two friends make a pact to find out what happens after death. Written by Philip Brubaker <coda@nando.net>
After adapting "Gospel according to Saint-Matthews" as no one had done before (and after ) him ,in a drastically anti-Hollywood style ("greatest story ever told" and the Italian's opus are worlds apart),Pasolini brushed away the cobwebs from Greek myths such as "Oedipe" and "Medea".Then he began his trilogy of life which would also encompass "the Canterbury tales" and "fiore della mille e una notte".
"Il decameron" is the first and it created the surprise in 1971:no one had been as bawdy as Pasolini at the time (and I wonder if someone had since).This is a movie made up of little sketches ,all adapted from
Boccacio and they respect the original stories (notably the" nightingale" segment)Probably the funniest of the trilogy,and the happiest -both "Canterbury" and "mille e una" feature some dark scenes :a gay is burned alive in the former,an adolescent's murdered in the latter.
That said,"Il decameron" and the two other parts are not for all tastes:bawdiness,vulgarity and scatology may repel some.