A REALLY BAD BAD MOVIE ... - Teorema (1968) Discussion

[–] claudja777 19 years ago

I'm really upset when I read this thing.Surely your opinion is Holy,but,if I can,I suggest you to try to see it once again.Of course its moralistic view it's heavy and annoying,I agree-(the Vatican church gave this movie a prize..so..)but some scenes are absolutely deep and unforgivable.And I'm not talking about the wonderful music.Anyway,if you still don't like it,well..don't search for any other pasolini no more!!!:))

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[–] HHFR 19 years ago

i`m sorry that you think in that way because i like that movie so much
but i ask a question
why do you see movies ?
i mean that when you watch a movie you don`t like to think about it ?
this film is full of concept if you like thinking go ahead

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[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 18 years ago

You sound like someone who is primarily interested in phillistine pig ignorance. Either that or yer very young. Even so yew will drink yer milk uncultured.

Nothing exists more beautifully than nothing.

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[–] Trouter2000 16 years ago

so yew will drink yer milk uncultured.

And you are calling him uncultured? You're an idiot, plain and simple.

Last film seen: Das Boot 8/10

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[–] mirta1 12 years ago

Hate it when people come out and call people idiots on the internet. It's not a good look.

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[–] dbaboci 18 years ago

I don't think it is about being cultured or uncultured. It is about how you understand the movie. Personally after i watch a movie, and i like it or i do not understand it i research it to see how other people have understood it in order to try and understand it even more...

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[–] amominak 18 years ago

Amen! I felt truly lost at the end of this movie. I guess I'd better not see any more Passolini. I only saw it because a book I recently read kept referring to this movie. Hmmmm..... as a sidenote, I thought it appeared to have been filmed in english and dubbed over in italian.....maybe just me but, it sure looked that way.

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[–] sessoconkafka 18 years ago

Yes. It has been filmed in English, but I really can't tell why.

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[–] DC1977 18 years ago

I'm pretty certain it wasn't shot in English.

The Canterbury Tales was but I think all Pasolini's other films were shot in Italian.

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[–] trickyhappyelf 17 years ago

nope it wasn't. Almost All Italian films of this time were dubbed over in post-production. Therefore the actors that spoke english in real life, spoke english when fiming, others spoke italian, others just counted to ten over and over. Lots of times the script wasn't even finished when directors shot the movie

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[–] sessoconkafka 18 years ago

"Teorema" is not an ordinary movie. It conveys a pretty deep message that's not so easy to understand (especially if you haven't been living in Italy in the late sixties). It works on complex metaphors that are not exhaustively explained. Yet its poignancy should not be denied. Not bad at all: Just different.

P

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[–] squelcho 18 years ago

It's said that Takashi Miike based Visitor Q loosely on Teorema.
I can see the resemblance, but Miike's humour is a welcome antidote to the stiff artiness of Pasolini's film.
I appreciate that it's from a different era, with different situationist goals, but purely as a movie, it failed to hold my interest with its clumsy symbolism.
Bunuel did it more humourously, Fellini did it more subtly, and Pasolini's finest moments were definitely elsewhere.
No doubt the intrinsic iconoclasm was very daring for its day, but Pasolini's deconstruction of church and state makes for a somewhat bland and predictable outcome.

I certainly don't agree with the OP, but neither do I think it's a masterpiece.
To my mind, it's an enigmatic footnote in the career of a director with much bigger fish to fry. Ditto Terence Stamp.

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[–] aventer-1 17 years ago

OK, I'm late to the party. But still.....if a film is truly well made, should it be hard to understand?

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[–] cinesimonj 11 years ago

That would be a relevant question if everyone understood things the same way, and found understanding things exactly as easy as each other.
For the life of me, I'll never fathom how people can think that 'good' or in this case 'well made' means 'don't have to think'.
I guess you also think that every painting or book you don't understand automatically makes it a bad book or painting.

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[–] vmorales 18 years ago

And what do you consider a really good movie? "The Sound of Music?"

You can take a whore to culture, but can't make her think...

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[–] loufster 18 years ago

Erm… it's 'You can lead a whore to culture, but you can't make her think'. If you're going to mock someone for their lack of sophistication, you should at least get your quote straight. ;-) I don't think you need to restate the 'horse' part either. Kind of ruins the joke. Sorry, was just passing, and couldn't help noticing…

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[–] ChoirBoyOC 17 years ago

Late to the party, I realize, but you've both got the quote wrong. The story is that Dorothy Parker was asked to use the word "horticulture" in a sentence, and came up with the pun:

"You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think."

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[–] RBrad30 18 years ago

You know it is entirely possible to think that both Teorema and The Sound of Music are good films - they happen to be two of my favourites.

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[–] MadamaButterfly91 18 years ago

...it's just full of symbolism and metaphores. I like the criticism towards capitalism and family values of that time (1968 was a hot year, expecially in Italy)

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[–] cliffdwellersociety 18 years ago

what do those of you who think this is offensive think of pasolini's Gospel According to Saint Matthew? it was also considered blasphemous when released, but personally it's the only movie about the bible i would ever claim to like, let alone love (which i think i do). see it, if you haven't. i'm not being perverse; you get the sermon on the mount verbatim (in translation), and yet a far more radical picture of your jesus than even the last temptation of christ (!, i'm told). i wonder....

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[–] smith-684 17 years ago

One of my film instructors told us that if we don't get a movie or don't like it we should examine why we feel that way. Think about the films you didn't care for on first viewing and trying watching a few of them again and see if you change your mind. I have done this several times and, with few exceptions, realized that watching a film in a different setting, on a different day, a different season of the year perhaps, changed my perspective drastically.

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