ZAMEK Culture Centre

HOMMAGE: PASOLINI. Five masterpiecies of Pier Paolo Pasolini | 16-22.06.2025

The anthological adaptation of Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th-century collection of short stories and the first part of the so-called Trilogy of Life. Each tale is about the sins of different people, and the stories share a mutual aim: a blunt commentary on Italian society. Pasolini metaphorically transposes nine medieval tales of his famous compatriot, highlighting their bawdy and ambiguous nature (which at the time was also blasphemous), while simultaneously revealing modern class conflicts between the wealthy North and the impoverished South. Fascinated by Italian folklore and folk vitality, Pasolini relocates the plot from Florence to Naples. Thus, the characters who speak the dialect of the Vesuvius area become symbols of economic exploitation by the wealthier North. After its premiere, many accused the author of not meeting the standards of what could have been a worthy (in this context, faithful) adaptation of The Decameron, criticizing its Marxist tendencies and anti-clerical sentiments. Interestingly, Pasolini himself took on the role of the famous painter Giotto’s protégé. [Piotr Szczyszyk]

The Decameron, Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1971, 112'