Das Gastmahl der Liebe (1964)

Das Gastmahl der Liebe: Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. With Lello Bersani, Alberto Moravia, Cesare Musatti, Io Appolloni. Microphone in hand, Pier Paolo Pasolini asks Italians to talk about sex: he asks children where babies come from, young and old women if they are men’s equals, men and women if a woman’s virginity matters, how they view homosexuals, how sex and honor connect, if divorce should be legal, and if they support closing the brothels (the Merlina Act). He periodically checks in with Alberto Moravia and Cesare Musatti. Bersani is intrusive and judgemental, prodding those who answer. The film’s thesis: despite the booming post-war economy, Italians’ attitudes toward sex are either rigidly Medieval (the poor and the South) or muddled and self-censoring (the bourgeoisie and the North).

“In this documentary, Pasolini travels around Italy and interviews random people in public places about their attitudes towards sexuality, marriage, and gender issues. Itu0026#39;s fascinating to hear how Italians in the early 1960s felt about these topics, and there are plenty of opinions that seem shocking from a modern perspective. There are people who think that divorce should be illegal (theyu0026#39;d rather have spouses kill each other), parents who find it perfectly normal for 14 year-old boys to lose their virginity with a prostitute, and women who think itu0026#39;s only right that they have less rights and freedoms than men. Itu0026#39;s especially interesting to hear the interviewees confess their unabashed disgust towards homosexuals to the secretly gay director.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHowever, I canu0026#39;t help but wonder if it wouldnu0026#39;t have been more interesting to include some interviews that werenu0026#39;t conducted in public places with groups of people standing around. As it stands, the movie gets a bit repetitive after a while and probably would have been more effective with a shorter running time.”