Arabian Nights (1974)

Ancient Arabia. A youth is chosen by a beautiful slave girl to be her new master; she is kidnapped and they must search for each other. Stories are told within stories; love, travel and the whims of destiny.

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writers:

Pier Paolo Pasolini, Dacia Maraini (script collaboration)

Stars:

Ninetto Davoli, Franco Citti, Franco Merli

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)
Claudia Rocchi	...	Budur (as Luigina Rocchi)
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

Storyline

In this film inspired by the ancient erotic and mysterious tales of Mid-West Asia, the main story concerns an innocent young man who comes to fall in love with a slave who selected him as her master. After his foolish error causes their separation, he travels in search of her. Various other travelers who recount their own tragic and romantic experiences include stories of a young man who becomes enraptured by a mysterious woman on his wedding day, and a man who is determined to free a woman from a demon.

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Plot Keywords:

slave | arabian nights | sex slave | love | demon | 

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Taglines:

Pier Paolo Pasolini's Tales of the Arabian Nights

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | History | Romance

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Certificate:

NC-17

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian Arabic

Release Date:

20 June 1974 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Arabian Nights

Filming Locations:

Zabid, Yemen

Company Credits

Production Co:

Produzioni Europee Associate (PEA), Les Productions Artistes Associés

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min 155 min (premiere)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

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Goofs

When Aziz sees Budur for the first time, the moon is waxing or waning. When he returns after two days to sit under her window, the moon is full.

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Crazy Credits

"Truth lies not in one dream, but in many." - Arabian Nights

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Alternate Versions

The film was cut for UK cinema with heavy edits to all shots of genital nudity, a man firing a phallic shaped arrow at a woman, and a naked man having wine licked from his feet but passed completely intact by the BBFC in 2001.

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Connections

Follows The Canterbury Tales (1972)

User Reviews

At least it's different...

'Il Fiore delle mille e una notte', or 'Arabian Nights', is Pier Paolo Pasolini's final film from his "trilogy of life" and his second to last film in general. His last of course is 'Salo, or 120 Days of Sodom', the controversial first film from his "trilogy of death".

With 'Arabian Nights' Pasolini combines a couple of stories from the book 'A Thousand and One Nights' into one story, although the film itself still feels very episodic. All parts of the story deal with love, or actually I should say lust, ending in sex. Especially the penis gets enough screen time here, it might as well be the leading character. The sex scenes themselves are, in my opinion, not very sensual or erotic (although they admittedly are when you compare them to such scenes in any other Pasolini film) which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it becomes exactly that when more than half the movie exists out of them.

On the other hand the film is pretty entertaining, mostly for its oddness. That again, is something we see in almost any other Pasolini film. His distant approach adds to that feeling, especially when he shows violent images. One might not expect them in a film that arguably celebrates love and sex. Another factor for the oddness is the terrible acting, especially from the men. Maybe good acting is impossible for them here since Pasolini presents them as a bunch of whiners who would do anything for love. Of course, once again, with love I mean sex. The Italian language in the Eastern setting is another thing that feels pretty weird as well. All these elements add to the oddness which makes the film more entertaining than it probably should have been.

I have to conclude with saying that I sort of admire Pasolini. I think only his 'Il vangelo secundo Matteo' can be considered as a truly great film, mostly since his approach is the distant one. I think that is a good thing when it comes to a religious film like that. that approach in his other films is not always the right one, but it is one aspect of why his films are different, often daring. Even when not much is happening, or when we have no clue what is happening, or when we normally would not care that much, Pasolini keeps it kind of interesting.