Pigsty

Peir Paolo Pasolini

My second Peir Paolo Pasolini film of late was the fascinating Pigsty (1969). Written by Pasolini it conveys two stories running in conjunction with each other. The first involves a young man who roams the volcanic wastes of Mount Etna and becomes a cannibal devouring unsuspecting people to stay alive. Gradually others join him, forming a small murderous band that is eventually caught by soldiers from a nearby village. All are condemned to death while most except their fate the leader is unrepentant and before he dies he shouts out ‘I’ve killed my father; I’ve eaten human flesh; I tremble with joy’.

‘I’ve killed my father; I’ve eaten human flesh; I tremble with joy’.

The second deals with the anguish of the children of the bourgeoisie. Its set in contemporary Germany and is about Julian, the son of a powerful former Nazi industrialist, who seems more enamoured with the estates pigs than he does with his beautiful fiancée, eventually being eaten by them leaving no trace.

The anguish of the children of the bourgeoisie

Pasolini’s satire is said to be his most vicious attack on the capitalist society he so despised. He stated ‘the ultimate message of the film was that all societies devour their own children; therefore an a-political anarchism would be the only visible stand’. It’s alleged that these feelings where brought about by Pasolini’s mixed reaction towards the uprisings of 1968 where student’s fought against the police and Pasolini came out on the side of the policeman when every left wing organisation was backing the students. He considered them true proletariat, sent to fight for a poor salary and for reasons, which they could not understand, against pampered boys of their same age, because they had not had the fortune of being able to study. It takes a masterful director to be able to express his political beliefs on celluloid so vehemently even if Pigsty is a rather self-indulgent piece of work but it still allows the viewer an insight into how this great Italian director’s mind worked