Pier Paolo Pasolini and the Reason of a Dream

While best-known as one of Italy's most acclaimed filmmakers, Pier Paolo Pasolini was also a painter, writer, and noted commentator whose views on politics and contemporary Italian culture had become quite controversial (and now seem quite prescient) by the time he died in 1975. Laura Betti was an actress who had worked with Pasolini, and considered him both a good friend and a great thinker; after his passing, she helped form the Pasolini Foundation to help stimulate discussion of his work. Betti directed this documentary which pays homage to Pasolini as an artist, philosopher, and human being; Pier Paolo Pasolini E La Ragione Di Un Sogno features footage of Pasolini himself, both at work on film sets and talking about his work and the larger world, as well as a look at the cities and circumstances where he grew up. Pier Paolo Pasolini E La Ragione Di Un Sogno was screened at the 2001 Venice Film Festival.~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide