Theorem (film)
Encyclopedia
Teorema is an Italian language
movie directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
and starring Laura Betti
, Silvana Mangano
, Massimo Girotti
, Terence Stamp
, and Anne Wiazemsky
. It was the first time Pasolini worked primarily with professional actors. In this film, an upper-class Milan
ese family is introduced to, and then abandoned by, a divine force. Two prevalent motifs are the desert and the timelessness of divinity.
Scholars view the film differently due to the openness or ambiguity of the film. The author of A Certain Realism: Making Use of Pasolini’s Film Theory and Practice, Maurizio Viano, says that in order to understand the film there must be "adequate translation." Most scholars' writing about the film does not discuss Pasolini’s cinematographic techniques but Pasolini’s philosophical arguments. Viano argues that Pasolini intended to be theoretical in this film because he wanted to be recognized as "a film theorist."
in Italian. Its Greek root is theorima (θεώρημα), meaning simultaneously "spectacle," "intuition," and "theorem." Viano suggests that the film should be considered as "spectatorship" because each family member gazes at the guest and his loins.
As a term, theorem is also often considered as mathematical or formulaic. In this sense, the film also contains a programmatic structure. It begins with documentary-like images and then moves on to the opening credit with a dark volcanic desert, a home party scene, cuts of the factory in sepia tone, introduction of each family member in silence and sepia tone, and, then, the guest sitting in the back yard in colour. The middle section is divided into three: "seductions", "confessions" and "transformations".
Not only is the film's structure formulaic but so is the psychological development of each character. They all go through "seductions", "confessions" and "transformations". The way each character changes their state of mind is the same. They all fall into a sexual desire for the guest. They all have sex with him. When the guest leaves, they all, except the maid, confess to him how they feel about themselves. In the final section of the film, after he leaves, they lose the identity they had before. The daughter succumbs to a rigid psychosis. The son psychotically paints his desire for the guest. The mother picks up young men who resemble the guest and has sex with them. The father strips down in the middle of the train station. The maid goes back to her village and performs miracles while subsisting on nettles, but asks to be buried alive.
in the future. Because of industrialization and the advancement of technology, working-class people are able to find employment. The more they find jobs, the less they face the class struggle. The more they earn money, the more they consume.
There is another way to look at the interview scene. In The Cinema of Economic Miracles: Visuality and Modernization in the Italian Art Film, Angelo Restivo assumes that Pasolini suggests that even documentary images, which depict facts, fail to show the truth. News can tell the audience only the surface of the events they broadcast. Only by watching the interview of the workers does not tell why Paolo, the owner of the factory gave away the factory. That might be one of the reasons the scene is set in the beginning of the film.
In his biographical work on Pasolini, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Enzo Siciliano simply assumes that Pasolini expresses his struggle of being homosexual in the film. On the other hand, Viano believes that Pasolini’s emphasis is not on homosexuality but rather on sexuality in general because the guest equally has sex with each member of the household. Sexuality is considered as passion in Viano’s interpretation.
A cogent interpretation of this film is basically Machiavellian
-Marxian. Pasolini, a longtime Communist, seems to make a critique of both the Italian haute bourgeoisie (the decadent family) and the southern proletariat (the maid). He urges for the appearance of a great man on the scene, a figure modeled after the Machiavellian idea of the 'prince,' to shake things up and straighten the path of Italy. The young, virile man that played by Terence Stamp symbolizes the Machiavellian leader of great 'virtu' who exposes the truth and liberates each of the other characters so they can reach their full potential. In the end, the father, who owns the factory, departs into a desert in a Christian-like search for himself, but simultaneously liberates the factory workers, who thereby become masters of their own destiny.
composed an opera
based on the film. In 2009, the Dutch theatre company 'Toneelgroep Amsterdam' created and performed a play version of this movie.
released the DVD
of Teorema in the United States.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
movie directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini was an Italian film director, poet, writer, and intellectual. Pasolini distinguished himself as a poet, journalist, philosopher, linguist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, newspaper and magazine columnist, actor, painter and political figure...
and starring Laura Betti
Laura Betti
Laura Betti was an Italian actress.Born Laura Trombetti in Bologna, this blonde and flamboyant actress started her career as jazz singer. Betti made her film debut in Federico Fellini's La dolce vita. In 1963 she became a close friend of the poet and movie director Pier Paolo Pasolini, for whom...
, Silvana Mangano
Silvana Mangano
Silvana Mangano was an Italian actress.Raised in poverty during World War II, Mangano trained as a dancer and worked as a model before winning a "Miss Rome" beauty pageant in 1946...
, Massimo Girotti
Massimo Girotti
Massimo Girotti was an Italian film actor whose career spanned seven decades.Born in Mogliano, in the province of Macerata, Girotti developed his athletic physique by swimming and polo...
, Terence Stamp
Terence Stamp
Terence Henry Stamp is an English actor. Since starting his career in 1962 he has appeared in over 60 films. His title role as Billy Budd in his film debut earned Stamp an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA nomination for Best Newcomer.His other major roles include...
, and Anne Wiazemsky
Anne Wiazemsky
Princess Anne Wiazemsky is a French actress and novelist, of the Russian Rurikid family of Princes Vyazemsky-Counts Levashov. Through her mother, she is the granddaughter of François Mauriac. She appeared in Robert Bresson's Au hasard Balthazar and in Godard's films La Chinoise and Week End...
. It was the first time Pasolini worked primarily with professional actors. In this film, an upper-class Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
ese family is introduced to, and then abandoned by, a divine force. Two prevalent motifs are the desert and the timelessness of divinity.
Plot
Terence Stamp plays a mysterious figure who appears in the lives of a typical bourgeois Italian family. He engages in sexual affairs with all members of the household: the devoutly religious maid, the sensitive son, the sexually repressed mother, the timid daughter and, finally, the tormented father. The stranger gives unstintingly of himself, asking nothing in return. Then one day he leaves, as suddenly and mysteriously as he came. The subsequent void created forces each family member to confront what was previously concealed by the trappings of bourgeois life. The mother seeks sexual encounters with young men, the son leaves the family home to become an artist, the daughter sinks into a catatonic state and the father strips himself of all material effects, handing his factory over to its workers, removing his clothes at a railway station and wandering naked into the wilderness. The maid returns to the rural village where she was born and is seen to perform miracles.Reception
On its release, the religious right and the Vatican criticized the sexual content in the film. Others considered the film "ambiguous" and "visionary." The film won a special award at the Venice Film Festival from the International Catholic Film Office, only to have it withdrawn later when the Vatican protested.Scholars view the film differently due to the openness or ambiguity of the film. The author of A Certain Realism: Making Use of Pasolini’s Film Theory and Practice, Maurizio Viano, says that in order to understand the film there must be "adequate translation." Most scholars' writing about the film does not discuss Pasolini’s cinematographic techniques but Pasolini’s philosophical arguments. Viano argues that Pasolini intended to be theoretical in this film because he wanted to be recognized as "a film theorist."
Etymology of film's title and its structure
Teorema means theoremTheorem
In mathematics, a theorem is a statement that has been proven on the basis of previously established statements, such as other theorems, and previously accepted statements, such as axioms...
in Italian. Its Greek root is theorima (θεώρημα), meaning simultaneously "spectacle," "intuition," and "theorem." Viano suggests that the film should be considered as "spectatorship" because each family member gazes at the guest and his loins.
As a term, theorem is also often considered as mathematical or formulaic. In this sense, the film also contains a programmatic structure. It begins with documentary-like images and then moves on to the opening credit with a dark volcanic desert, a home party scene, cuts of the factory in sepia tone, introduction of each family member in silence and sepia tone, and, then, the guest sitting in the back yard in colour. The middle section is divided into three: "seductions", "confessions" and "transformations".
Not only is the film's structure formulaic but so is the psychological development of each character. They all go through "seductions", "confessions" and "transformations". The way each character changes their state of mind is the same. They all fall into a sexual desire for the guest. They all have sex with him. When the guest leaves, they all, except the maid, confess to him how they feel about themselves. In the final section of the film, after he leaves, they lose the identity they had before. The daughter succumbs to a rigid psychosis. The son psychotically paints his desire for the guest. The mother picks up young men who resemble the guest and has sex with them. The father strips down in the middle of the train station. The maid goes back to her village and performs miracles while subsisting on nettles, but asks to be buried alive.
Scholarly interpretations
A common interpretation by cinema scholars is that the film is a commentary on the bourgeois society and emergence of consumerism through the very beginning of the film. The reporter asks a worker of Paolo’s factory if he thinks there will be no BourgeoisBourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
in the future. Because of industrialization and the advancement of technology, working-class people are able to find employment. The more they find jobs, the less they face the class struggle. The more they earn money, the more they consume.
There is another way to look at the interview scene. In The Cinema of Economic Miracles: Visuality and Modernization in the Italian Art Film, Angelo Restivo assumes that Pasolini suggests that even documentary images, which depict facts, fail to show the truth. News can tell the audience only the surface of the events they broadcast. Only by watching the interview of the workers does not tell why Paolo, the owner of the factory gave away the factory. That might be one of the reasons the scene is set in the beginning of the film.
In his biographical work on Pasolini, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Enzo Siciliano simply assumes that Pasolini expresses his struggle of being homosexual in the film. On the other hand, Viano believes that Pasolini’s emphasis is not on homosexuality but rather on sexuality in general because the guest equally has sex with each member of the household. Sexuality is considered as passion in Viano’s interpretation.
A cogent interpretation of this film is basically Machiavellian
Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian historian, philosopher, humanist, and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance. He is one of the main founders of modern political science. He was a diplomat, political philosopher, playwright, and a civil servant of the Florentine Republic...
-Marxian. Pasolini, a longtime Communist, seems to make a critique of both the Italian haute bourgeoisie (the decadent family) and the southern proletariat (the maid). He urges for the appearance of a great man on the scene, a figure modeled after the Machiavellian idea of the 'prince,' to shake things up and straighten the path of Italy. The young, virile man that played by Terence Stamp symbolizes the Machiavellian leader of great 'virtu' who exposes the truth and liberates each of the other characters so they can reach their full potential. In the end, the father, who owns the factory, departs into a desert in a Christian-like search for himself, but simultaneously liberates the factory workers, who thereby become masters of their own destiny.
Other versions
Pasolini later expanded this film into a novel with the same name. Giorgio BattistelliGiorgio Battistelli
Giorgio Battistelli is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music. A native of Albano Laziale , he studied at the conservatory in L'Aquila and is a former student of Stockhausen and Kagel, Battistelli has written nearly 20 operas on subjects ranging from Diderot and d'Alembert's...
composed an opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
based on the film. In 2009, the Dutch theatre company 'Toneelgroep Amsterdam' created and performed a play version of this movie.
DVD release
On October 4, 2005, Koch-Lorber FilmsKoch-Lorber Films
Koch-Lorber Films, launched in February 2003, is an independent film distributor and DVD label based in New York...
released the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of Teorema in the United States.
Awards
- Nominated for the Golden LionGolden LionIl Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
at the Venice Film FestivalVenice Film FestivalThe Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the... - Laura Betti won the Volpi CupVolpi CupThe Volpi Cups are the principal awards given to actors at the Venice Film Festival. Formal acting awards were introduced in the second festival . Initially they were called Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment. The name Volpi Cup was introduced the following year...
for Best Actress for her role in the film
External links
- Teorema (Film-Forward review)
- "The Atheist Who Was Obsessed with God" Interview with Pier Paolo Pasolini conducted by Guy Flatley in 1969 (first published in the New York Times; posted by Flatley on MovieCrazed)