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16 - 29 October 2022: Theorem

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Theorem
Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1968, 98 min
Italian with English subtitles

"A radically streamlined and elliptically simple film, Teorema remains one of Pasolini’s most mysterious works. The story of a sexually magnetic stranger, played by a mesmerizing Terence Stamp, who methodically disrupts the well-ordered household of a wealthy Milanese industrialist, Teorema’s hidden tensions are brought to the surface with a shocking suddenness that remains as inexplicable as it is inevitable. Meant as a merciless savaging of the bourgeoisie, Teorema features a pair of well-known Italian actors as the subjects of its critique – Massimo Girotti and Silvana Mangano as husband and wife – as foils to the alluring stranger, who may be angel or demon, or something else entirely." – Harvard Film Archive


Part of our Essential Cinema series