Whoever Says the Truth Shall Die: A Film About Pier Paolo Pasolini (1981)

The Truth According to Pasolini

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Whoever Says the Truth Shall Die: A Film About Pier Paolo Pasolini on DVD

Philo Bregstein directed this brief, interesting documentary about the life, career and untimely death of Italian poet, journalist, writer and filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. Narrated in English, the film spends long moments on pages of Pasolini's poetry, as well as clips from his most famous films (The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Salo, etc.). He began as an assistant to Fellini, contributing to screenplay for Nights of Cabiria (1957). (Fellini allowed Pasolini to shoot some test footage of his own, but Fellini didn't like it.) The doc has the benefit of timeliness, coming just six years after Pasolini's murder (blamed entirely on a teenage boy whom Pasolini had "picked up"). Bernardo Bertolucci, who worked as an assistant on Pasolini's early film Accattone (1961), says on camera that he believes Pasolini's death was no mere accident, and that it was a political murder, committed by a group. At the time of this DVD release by Facets Video however, the case was re-opened, and the extras include new radio interviews with director Bregstein and Bertolucci. A liner notes booklet comes with essays about Pasolini and a filmography.

Starring: Bernardo Bertolucci, Laura Betti, Maria Antonietta Macciocchi, Alberto Moravia, Pier Paolo Pasolini
Written by: n/a
Directed by: Philo Bregstein
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Language: Italian with English subtitles
Running Time: 60 minutes
Date: December 2, 2006