On Thursday, February 17th, in Los Angeles, a full retrospective dedicated to Pier Paolo Pasolini was inaugurated on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of his birth. It’s the first big event of a five-year partnership between the Italian studio Cinecittà and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

The open ceremony was attended by Oscar-winning production designer Dante Ferretti, a long-time collaborator of Pasolini, who remembered him with affection and gratitude. “I owe my career to him. I started as an assistant production designer on three of his films, beginning with The Gospel According to St. Matthew, in 1964, before signing my first creation for Medea, with Maria Callas”, he stated. “We had a strong trust which lasted until his last film, Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975). I learned about his passing while I was taking a walk in Rome with Elio Petri. It was a very hard blow for me.”

The designer flew all the way to Los Angeles to celebrate his artist friend: “ 20 years ago, Cinecittà and the Academy created a wonderful art show of my designs,” he said. “Tonight, we celebrate another great moment of friendship between the two institutions, both so attentive when it comes to protecting the world cinema heritage,” he said with enthusiasm.

 

The retrospective, titled “Carnal Knowledge: The Films of Pier Paolo Pasolini,” honors the director, writer, and poet, and it will run until March 12^th. The official program is curated by the Academy Museum Senior Programmer Bernardo Rondeau, and calls for the nearly exclusive use of precious 35mm copies created by Cinecittà, including short films and documentaries. It marks the start of a unique agreement composed of a steady sequence of expositions, shows, and activities dedicated to Italian cinema over the next five years, a testimony of the over twenty-year-long relationship that bonds the two institutions.

This retrospective spans the three principal periods of Pasolini’s art. It guides us from his reinvention of Italian neorealism, with Accattone and Mamma Roma, to portraits of a depraved Europe in Theorema and PigstyTrilogy of Life, a celebration of the primary pleasure of sex set in ancient times, and Salo.

Even though he only worked as a film director for slightly over a decade, his impact on cinema has been profound. Openly gay, ferocious critic of capitalism and the bourgeois establishment in Europe, he lived in the bullseye of the élites for the entirety of his career. It all ended tragically with murder — just a few weeks before the premiere of his most incendiary condemnation of the upper classes, with Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom. Pier Paolo was 53 years old.

We sat down for a long chat with Dante Ferretti, who is turning 79 on February 26^th. He has been nominated nine times for the Academy Awards and took the Oscar home three times, for The Aviator, in 2005, Sweeney Todd, in 2008, and Hugo, in 2012. The honor has always been shared with his wife, set decorator Francesca Lo Schiavo. Dante Ferretti has designed for 10 of Martin Scorsese’s films, 6 of Fellini’s, and 9 of Pasolini’s, with 84 films in total. Nothing short of a living legend.

 

Dante, how did you meet Pasolini?

I was a child. When I was 13 I already knew I wanted to be a production designer. I left my native town of Macerata to study at the Rome Academy of Fine Arts. There I met Luigi Scaccianoce, an important production designer at the time. He offered me to go work with him on La parmigiana. Shortly after, he happened to work on The Gospel According to St. Matthew. Pasolini had been location scouting in Palestine but it was too realistic for his taste, so, he opted for Matera, in the Southern region of Basilicata, and its “Sassi.” So, he called Scaccianoce. I was there, listening to anything Scaccianoce wanted.

 

And also listening to what Pasolini wanted?

Of course. I was always next to Pasolini as well. I started understanding what he wanted. I started learning from him. One day, he says: “Where’s Scaccianoce?” and I reply: “Scaccianoce had to go to Rome for a bit.” He said, “Listen Ferretti – we were always very formal with each other – even after shooting nine movies together. Listen Ferretti, this is the scene we will be doing here, and this is what we need to do over there.” We went on like this for a long time. We also filmed next to Viterbo, in Torre di Chiaia [a watchtower], which I had to completely redo and clean up. Then, we did The Hawks and the Sparrows, also with Scaccianoce. He did the production design and I was his assistant.

 

Your third film was Oedipus Rex. What do you remember of that experience?

For Oedipus Rex, Pasolini went to scout locations in Northern Africa. He chose Ouarzazate in Morocco. We landed with our plane in Marrakesh, then drove seven hours to get to Ouarzazate. It looked like a village from a western movie. On the dirt street: on the left there were huge spaces with some warehouses where they kept animals, while on the right there was what I called a “Saloon.” It was a restaurant run by some French. We had lunch. At one point, Scaccianoce said: “Sorry everyone, unfortunately, I have to get up and get back to Rome because I need to shoot a film with De Laurentiis, The Battle for Anzio.” So, Pasolini had to rely on me. That “asshole Scaccianove” — as Pasolini said, although he was always very polite — had betrayed him. I had to step in alone!

 

Can you help us understand why Pasolini remains, till this day, so important; and why the Academy dedicates this retrospective to him?

Because Pasolini was a great director. And a poet. He was the one who recounted the historical period we lived between fascism and the post-war. And he went on, always telling stories that involved him directly. It is sufficient to see his last film, Salo (1975), to understand what was happening in Italy at the time. Pasolini was much loved by the people. Each one of his films became an event in Italy. He also received much criticism for being a communist. But the intellectuals loved him. He’s been a very important person for our culture. I appreciate seeing that after 100 years from his birth people still remember him, even in America.

 

Pasolini was very specific in his requests, is that true?

He was mostly concerned with the historic part of the film, from a visual point of view. But, at the same time, he loved mistakes. To shoot in a place like the one we are in now, at the Academy, where everything is perfect, that wouldn’t work for him. There always had to be something that was imperfect. Because imperfection gave him a sense of truth. And this is what he really loved.

 

What is your favorite film from Pasolini?

I really liked The Canterbury Tales (1972). Then The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964). It’s the film of my life. I will now tell you something kind of private: I am religious, I go to church every Sunday, to mass. My church in Rome is Santa Andrea delle Fratte – I live close to Piazza di Spagna. The first thing I do when I go into the church is to stop in front of the statue of Mary holding a large, life-size Jesus in her arms. With the signs of the cross, dead. And I stop there every Sunday and I light ten candles and I speak to Jesus Christ and I thank him. He’s the one who helped me, who opened the doors of my career. Because, since it started with The Gospel According to St. Matthew, it was him, I am sure, who paved my way.

 

What are some of your future projects?

The film I was preparing two years ago with Scorsese was postponed due to the pandemic. Now he is making it with another production designer. But yesterday I saw Madonna, here in Los Angeles, and she wants me to make a movie with her. She’s Madonna and I’m Jesus Christ! (laughs).