Pasolini's Erotic Gaze from Medea to Salò

Pier Paolo Pasolini's cinema exhibits a number of stylistic idiosyncrasies that in some fashion or other we may describe as the “erotic gaze.” We recall, for example, his signature frontal shot that lingers on the awkward smile of an innocent looking youth, or his slow pans over rough natural landscapes. In instances such as these, which exemplify what Pasolini calls his sacralità tecnica, or technical sacrality (Per il cinema 2768), the camera seems to penetrate through the object's surface layer so as to unearth its deep primordial qualities. To be sure, the erotic dimension of such shots is not explicit, unlike that of the specific trope on which this essay will concentrate: the cases in which a character contemplates a man's body with special attention to the genital area. The pornographic aspect of this “crotch shot” (Pendleton 47) in its libidinal origin does not eclipse its ideologically conceived, meticulously crafted, and historically shifting value. My study of key instances of such erotic contemplation in Pasolini's later cinema, from 1969 to 1975, highlights the transformations that the erotic gaze undergoes with respect to the following factors: the type of audience that each film addresses, hence, Pasolini's shifting position vis-à-vis film history; Pasolini's homosexuality; and his ideological critique of 1960s and 1970s sexual liberation as a byproduct of neo-capitalism. The so-called crotch shot is itself not devoid of sacralità. Indeed, in its complementary relationship with those instances properly defined as sacral—the aforementioned, not explicitly erotic, yet enigmatic and rather lengthy shots examining faces and landscapes—it actualizes its multivalent and evolving meaning with respect to Pasolini's position in film history, sexuality, and ideological critique.Pasolini's career as a film director, from 1961 to 1975, may be roughly divided into three phases, which correspond to crucial stylistic shifts. His first two films, Accattone (1961) and Mamma Roma (1962), exemplify what we may call his revisionist-neorealist phase. Like the 1940s classics of Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, and Luchino Visconti, they employ a combination of technical and thematic factors toward the crude portrayal of a given aspect of contemporary Italian reality. They rely, for instance, on a sparse mise-en-scène, on-location shooting, and non-professional actors, while focusing on the struggle for survival in a low socioeconomic milieu. Despite such affinities, in discussing his move from literature to film in 1961, Pasolini distinguishes his vision of reality from that of neorealism: “there is no absolute Realism that is valid for all epochs. Every epoch has its own realism. And this is because every epoch has its own ideology” (“Intellectualism . . . ” 17). Alluding to postwar conditions such as the victory of the Christian Democratic Party and the economic miracle, he states: “Neorealism is finished. It was a rational and humanistic movement, inspired by the feelings that Italians lived through during the immediate period after the fall of Fascism. This neorealist creative tendency was gradually abandoned as Italy, instead of maintaining the principles of the Resistance, let itself fall into reactionary clericalism” (44). According to John David Rhodes, Pasolini “adopts the trappings of neorealism in order to push past what he believed were its sentimental progressive politics and into a realm in which the ideas of social mobility and personal or collective betterment are negated” (58).1Sam Rohdie distinguishes the two cinemas in terms of the relationship between reality and narrative. In neorealism, “while the films left the door open to the impress of reality, once reality appeared from outside the fiction it became integrated within it.” The real was “domesticated and rationalized by the narrative fiction, which provided [it] with motives in action and in character. Pasolini's real, on the other hand, is real insofar as it remains unintegrated and unarticulated fictionally. A character grimaces, but to no one, to nowhere, without motive. A character moves out of character towards the reality of the actual actor” (176; emphasis added).It is the explosive quoting of reality fragments in this manner, where the fragment appears to remain “unintegrated and unarticulated fictionally,” that led to the second phase of Pasolini's cinema, a modernist phase, placing him in the canon of 1960s European auteurs, while differentiating his style and reframed thematic concerns—he now looks at Greek myth, allegory, and the high bourgeoisie—from both neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema. Certainly, the continuity that persists across the rupture, an example of which is perhaps Accattone's close-ups of the actors’ faces (rather than the characters’, as Rodhie would say), hence, an exhibitionistic, diegetically disruptive camera even within his most neorealist moment, is one of the things that Rhodes evokes when he claims that “realism and modernism in Pasolini's work [. . .] are the same thing” (55). Nonetheless, in films such as Oedipus Rex (1967), Teorema (1968), Pigsty (1969), and Medea (1970), the tenets of 1960s art cinema, also typified by the works of Michelangelo Antonioni, Ingmar Bergman, and Alain Resnais, to name a few, are much more pronounced than in his “neorealist” phase, not only in terms of themes and style but also and inevitably of reception. The story is often about a contemporary problem of a social, political, philosophical, or psychological nature, examined through an individual's in to a given milieu. are and the film an into character. the of the of the of which both neorealism and classical cinema, modernism the some of the principles of continuity the film and in story and a to the problem that it and by the the to meaning a of that often We the to of phase in Pasolini's cinema is one that we may describe as the of the his Pasolini now seems to to the of cinema as what is by the classical Hollywood more so than cinema as an the of his This phase is in his of with from with the of and with from an Indeed, the most between of and which According to David Pasolini a and from a European film to with and to that the of in the of the not would the film in the for but it the at film second only to De The of the which the and it to the film the film in the Pasolini's stylistic [. . .] has of a for [. . .] because he to shifting three are they in and of which yet will study with the between this and a move from an to an of film as as the on his cinema of the sexual on which he an is most crucial for the erotic gaze as it from one film to the will with on and with his or the of on The of or the of A of its Pasolini's ideological toward a portrayal of and of those social in which he the to neo-capitalism. we will this which a of the into a of the erotic trope is in Pasolini's work through the of a a in classical cinema, this of a shot which a character looking by a shot which through is to the of the of the character in shot The often the as a of the the a of It often as it the to the It may sexual often in of as at by not To be sure, his career Pasolini to the in vis-à-vis the of by the classical narrative. on of the real as to Pasolini's cinema also to the classical narrative. In an Pasolini's for the a about about own its which to of is for films that and from the in without a in The to such in the principles of classical cinema. In in the classical shot Pasolini in one, he an erotic portrayal of the body as the of a or In other while he to the of classical cinema, he in the shot a to with the is yet as he the classical he it by its of an of the body one of the most in the of The of Medea in with and him to the of In Medea for to the of as a Medea on by two In to the Pasolini the to the of Medea as an and sexual as a and a In the he in a shot that with through the during Medea and to after they Medea body while he is is in two slow pans across his in a The first at the and at the The second at the and at the The two pans are by a of which gaze at his genital body that we not as is and with the two also that the pans across his both and with respect to the camera from left to the across the to the a to which will such to Pasolini's is According to body a and itself by to the Medea and are of this type of by a that of Medea and it is the gaze of the director, shot the the often the of the De that the appears or is from him that the of the by the camera the and the In looking at the and his sexual or and in with the into the by the Medea in De is in with the to about as a of which in a to the special to would with the we a layer of meaning in the to as an in with the of the film as a one that Medea his as an of this does not for the other instances in which Medea at other or the In later the between erotic gaze and of the of in this body as and the is so that him from to with the once the and the and of at the of both gaze and the film as a to the transformations of the erotic gaze from film to film we study this complementary relationship the gaze and the of the in its with respect to Pasolini's position in film To we may the film in of his of where he the to what he terms a stylistic to that his work in 1960s the Pasolini on two other he it from the classical he both the shot and the what he as and The shot because the shot that the character looking it that what we are about to is what the character The is more when it In the character without The the and which from the for that the is has the of the of the of social conditions by because they Every reality is a of and differentiating and the be of this which in the is a of In cinema, the that reality at the are not into of They the of that of social the of looking is by the for example, a reality other than that by the faces of of this of this at reality by To a story or the through his the of that natural of that is His be it be the rather than a of and the of a it is a for stylistic of Pasolini's is which its style to the to to the through his because he has in for the of a his own of is a for a style to the as through his as a sexual and other may be Pasolini's own for a style by a that not the erotic gaze but to the meaning with respect to Pasolini's position in film that while the is a for the of a Pasolini the of as one that does with the a in which following a and more itself of and itself as as The of he is the of style as to such an as to all of from the of the he the of the of as an to classical is a that of the cinema of This by now to be in to the of film a that would to be more as in the relationship between gaze and the in terms of the of its meaning with respect to Pasolini's position in film that to as vis-à-vis a rational Greek to as an in the of the film is a for stylistic of Pasolini's of the Greek is the of the The with Medea in after has We only a and Pasolini instead The first the with a of the of style the with while they the of classical of and its with the of the of and a the of an pans over a of shot and other of classical continuity gaze at body as a It in the of the the second which is in and roughly to the action of gaze at the of to to the first the second is more classical in its on and more not the of in Medea Pasolini two a one, the of which is the as and a more classical one, which the that it the of the classical the gaze is to the its classical it does not the because Medea no action as a of The of the gaze in a film that for one has outside its is not as in classical cinema. in to the of that it as to the of This is by the of the The body of a through the of the is disruptive to the the has a In the body a to those pans over that exemplify Pasolini's sacralità his first Pasolini his of what he as technical the between camera are those between of A shot may be to a with the of or in cinema, to the such And the appeared to in of a technical sacrality that and is more than a slow when by a and for the first the of those pans over over the of the . . . And hence, (Per il cinema camera to the aspect of reality, which to of is the of is in and and which narrative cinema both and It is no that the over the one over the that or other pans over that in the first that to The of to the because it The shot is a key that Pasolini to the is in to the through its to the not but to meaning in the to of looking while with Pasolini's of Medea the of art cinema, the to the To be sure, its of is a that in the of the an of two by the The and and The of where a Christian of the A the of the when by to the of in has a of The in the Pasolini with the the film when his a work of art when it is so to of to the or which both and from in a modernist as that the the the thematic of and sexual and Nonetheless, each in and of itself the of classical at so to and the may the is this with its and its of sexuality, that one of the the film for The as the only film of the and a from the of on some of with and in the film [. . .] out and for the and the to its in became after Pier Paolo Pasolini of the and the to out the film It one within one of its in In a where films an was a to in in the its at film is in this by for The now at the in at a an not only to the of but to the of that to the It the an of and one of the most innocent We a of the in a by at the film and that of instance, in the of The one of to A The on the The The and high does not that is devoid of Pasolini the of that he the the of and for the of narrative from because that to an ideological film is than a film he because every film has its ideology” in It is with a audience in but also into Pasolini's to the in a both and manner, that we may the specific of the two instances of the erotic first of the to be a and a as a at a on his to two him for sexual They the when they a in the and to be and and after to one to it a they to the by a when with a to they other in the are They and him a In the is to that is in the of a This for a of the The of at an shot of his body from the from the of the two and a crotch that through his The are in an which the of the man's body the in and with The of is gaze at the shot narrative by the are so that they in insofar as Pasolini the classical he the the of a man's crotch is in narrative cinema, all the more so with a as the of the Pasolini to but not the two as the of the he to the and the own and the Pasolini in a of one by the of to which the its qualities. with his Pasolini the work to a of The economic of the to an of In from an to an the of an that to every of The of which Pasolini the and its were In to the of and the ideological of the the of the and the of the into a was to a of a that was in the of a type of not but at the of the They and they of it a The body became a was the for the of the was a where reality the of the that of reality to be with the of sexual of They were the of those not yet the and the in and and to some to those to that the Pasolini that in the on the In such as Pasolini the of an only this in terms of 1960s and 1970s sexual a with in This of liberation is by a later of the erotic in the of of the that the to to on the in the of the in after they in a In a shot that is to the one in with respect to Medea is that the does not the The over from left to at the and at the genital while the only the of the by his when a of his body that with over his This is the in in the gaze from that of the it does not narrative it also the as it the to now more Despite its to its ideological is to gaze is it to or it is the It classical sexual while it Pasolini's was by in Greek was also a of that that was with the in of and instead of they that he only because he from a with much is for Pasolini's to 1960s and 1970s sexual what he as a by the and which is also the most in In the of for example, the that such a and of a sexual that the of what is yet for a sexual to not and or such are and it into an [. . .] The of the into and because sexual is not for and and In this even the in which reality that the or in the has the over as with Pasolini his style to the that in the he evokes it only to to its to the by a This may the that we in when to the to the has a and so will the but not without a Indeed, this may be what Pasolini's when it the it in its slow pans the to and In the camera the by to as it instead the camera exhibits its own sexual that that Pasolini It the with a of which Pasolini in the that films may the sexual of Italian In films in to a In the of he that those that once of no as the of the into a has is now a a body are only with to and the to to things were The faces of are to by and without more by the to In Pasolini its to the of with and in a of he other an of 1960s and 1970s each and with the of and other and to of in a of the of sexual and of all by the of the to the and at the of the is by of absolute is by the to Pasolini's to on of mise-en-scène, and emphasis on the and with the that from the of one of the the film is as a Pasolini to not to not to things with much and and in The the and the of the perhaps one by a where Pasolini of works by and the of and are to some of the audience of of or the to modernist Pasolini that on the that are is the same that will once the of the body is with the first of This is the only of the erotic gaze as defined the film is The gaze from its in Medea and The from a of the camera the in the of between the and the in and the and shots that the in to the in classical is to it that the has and the two of the to a in the faces of the toward the It in Pasolini to the of may instead the is the to which Pasolini's shot to the in the by the collective gaze at a a gaze that the with the and the of which may the in a of the which in to the of the in shot A the of the is to and It is also to the own to the not or in they and Pasolini to an of the which even those that he as and now and of the are those into the that and into the of the they are it that they were the same so they were to be of the with the that They not to or They for the they which those They are innocent yet They all this because the is between the gaze in and its is that the the is now an but as a to the of the collective at the is itself perhaps to that the a This the of Pasolini's as a vis-à-vis the are Pasolini in that he was by in on In what is perhaps the most and of to in with to an Pasolini's as of a rather than as an in of a what the is the not the [. . .] a that the of with to [. . .] Pasolini's [. . .] are not A of the order is the of as in a by the of while to from the is by some of the for own the order in at its that Pasolini's is which the to of in Pasolini it with as the only of one of the most themes and the of a the while and are the of the the while the the of that the is the as it is the that a body in Medea was the an what is the meaning of the that seems to Pasolini to Pasolini's of the of after the sexual after the The because to with may now with a where Pasolini's a is by in one of the the film after an of and an at the to a unlike in where the of the is sexual other to of it a toward the of a Pasolini in is a of a social in which sexual is not the [. . .] the meaning of in the while Pasolini into and is a not of sexual but of a in which an yet In this Pasolini is not a but a are of the and the as those is that they are not the of the of which the in which one the the about his or [. . .] The in the of body [. . .] and to the body as the of all are complementary of a the and more the Pasolini is one is by a now is to he has the of to a the one about Pasolini as defined by with two on of his work to which the of which the of this to both of which as for Pasolini's as a vis-à-vis the of with in the that work to the may the from those an to the one that in the with the of an where and the to through other such as and or and Pasolini's of with may be a of or to does not thematic or of its is Pasolini's of for a of The is into an not only with the film but also with its as an one the or may as a of his own with an His of by in not be as Indeed, it may the Pasolini's on own with that which is as by a camera that the in the the of the is not the only Pasolini work by this appears from the one of his works of that the of the are of his own to where an Pasolini's as a film to for an (1970), where Pasolini from a while he also his to the of a of at the of let what to as a from to one that in Pasolini's later cinema the from its in Medea to its in The is not In the to the of the Pasolini's erotic as an ideological move from to on the specific type of audience that the film by of Greek is also the of an audience that itself from to on sexual the ideological of which is in enigmatic a Pasolini's one, of those to all of or in the of the that In with one that the so-called is as absolute as the of given The which Pasolini's on the in which the camera the the camera the to gaze in this or that Indeed, the relationship is one of which the may or gaze at the to it only as as the of the that a Pasolini a in the of to its we the from its narrative we may that body on with an the shots of the an than with the of a [. . .] Pasolini attention to the and to and They in this and the with a shot of and of In this of one at the two of at that are into one after that through that those are

Art · Computer vision · Gaze · Communication · Computer Science · European Cultural and National Identity · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Italian Literature and Culture · Psychology

• Pasolini's Erotic Gaze from Medea to Salò

  Michael Syrimis•Italica•2023

  Add to list

• Narration in the Fiction Film

  David Bordwell•Narration in the Fiction Film•2015

  Add to list

• Babel and Babylon

  Miriam Hansen•Babel and Babylon•1991

  Add to list

• The Resurrection of the Body

  Armando Maggi•Resurrection of the Body•2009

  Add to list

• Sex,The Self and the Sacred

  Colleen Ryan-Scheutz•Sex, the Self, and the Sacred•2007

  Add to list

• Allegories of Contamination

  Patrick Rumble•Allegories of Contamination•1996

  Add to list

• Filmmaking by the Book

  Peter Bondanella, Millicent Marcus•Modern Language Notes•1993

  Add to list

• La Strategia Della “Cornice” Nel Decameron Di Pier Paolo Pasolini

  Open Access•Mario Moroni•Forum Italicum A Journal of…•2004

  Add to list

• Salvaging the Sacred

  Colleen M Ryan•Italica•1999

  Add to list

• Pasolini's Erotic Gaze from Medea to Salò

  Michael Syrimis•Italica•2023

  Add to list