The first time I saw Mama Roma, I didn't guess that its director was Pasolini, because compared with Pasolini's later films, Mama Roma is definitely a light and tender sad sketch, without crazy erotica The grand ceremony, without overly explicit clerical attacks. Pasolini's first two films, Parasite and Mama Roma, are considered to have a strong neorealist style, and do show some matching characteristics: the use of non-professional actors (it is worth mentioning that the heroine Anna Magnani is a professional actor) , because Pasolini admired the film of the undefended city of Rome very much, but then he admitted that he was dissatisfied and regretted that the role of the Roman mother used professional actors), reflecting the living mental state of the poor people at the bottom, conveying a kind of despair with a sense of desolation and so on. Pasolini himself has never denied the influence of neorealism on the creation of the film, but he also tried to change and create his own style. He said: "Neorealism is to copy life, using long shots and segment shots to create a real rhythm of daily life, but I, I don't want to reproduce life, I want to deconstruct and rebuild life." So in this film In the film, we can see that Pasolini has put a lot of effort into the framing of the camera. There are a lot of close-up shots, and he does not pay attention to the connection between the shots. It is innovative, but I think the biggest difference between Pasolini-style neorealism and traditional neorealism is that Pasolini deeply imprinted the religious color in this film, and swayed in the sacred and blasphemy.
Religion has always been the artistic means of Pasolini's filmmaking. Mama Roman is not a religious movie, but some scenes have obvious religious overtones. In the wedding scene at the beginning of the film, a panoramic shot immediately reminds the audience of Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting, The Last Supper. A newlywed couple replaces Jesus, who is seated at the center of the painting, which is also plausible, since weddings are considered sacred marriages in Catholicism. But Mother Roman, surrounded by three piglets dressed as adults, immediately destroyed the sacred atmosphere, shouting: Bride, come and meet your maiden family! With this line, the sacred marriage instantly became marketable and vulgar, and the newlyweds were compared to livestock. Afterwards, the newlyweds and Roman mother sneered at each other and said vulgar words. The guests present were also noisy, and the solemn atmosphere disappeared. Secondly, in terms of the environment, the background of the Last Supper is an open door with a perspective effect, but Pasolini used a fully enclosed white wall with a dead door. The lack of visual extension caused psychological depression. sense.
At the end of the film, Ettore's death is another very obvious religious reference. Ettore is tied to a wooden board, and the camera slowly becomes a panoramic view, but the shooting angle is very tricky, completely reproducing Mantegna's masterpiece "Mourning". Christ". It seems to present a sacred atmosphere, but Ettore, the gangster who roams the streets of Rome, the guilty thief, to compare him with Jesus is indeed blasphemous. The film was also bombarded by public opinion because of this paragraph. But Pasolini has repeatedly emphasized that he is blasphemy against religion, but he is by no means a radical anti-religionist. His purpose is to express the feelings and fate of the humble petty bourgeoisie in a deeper way by condemning religion, just like Rome. From believing in the Lord and following the pastor's advice, Mom finally walked in the dark, looking at the sky, as if she was questioning God: "Whose fault is it? Whose responsibility is it? Why am I nothing? And you, you do The king of kings?!" So, in the final scene, Ettore dies, but not as gloriously as Jesus did, nor as there are two people around him weeping and mourning as in Mantegna's painting. Ettore's death was rather disgraceful. He was burning with a fever and bound, repenting, crying, and calling out to his mother, who unfortunately couldn't be around him either. In this contrast, a kind of sympathy emerges spontaneously.
In addition to this obvious religious reference throughout, Pasolini has also inserted some imperceptible additions. For example, at the wedding banquet, Carmine, the former pimp of Roman mother, slowly took out a bunch of lilies from behind and prayed. This design is by no means meaningless. Here Pasolini completely subverts religious traditions. story. In the Bible, there is a scene in the "Annunciation of the Virgin". It is the angel Gabriel holding a lily to inform the Virgin Mary that she will be conceived by the Holy Spirit and give birth to Jesus. In this film, however, the situation is quite the opposite. The evil Carmine intervenes in the life of the Roman mother, indirectly telling Ettore that the Roman mother is a prostitute, causing the son to break with the mother and go astray to commit the crime of stealing (in the hospital, This crime happened right in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary) staggered into prison, and finally died alone. In Pasolini's religious stories, good and evil are reversed, the plot is reversed, the blasphemy is so inscrutable and intriguing.
With regard to religious attitudes, Pasolini paces between two states, a seemingly sacred surface containing a potent devastation. But what is certain is that there is one thing that Pasolini 100% pilgrimage and reveres, and that is maternal love. Pasolini and his mother had an extraordinary closeness (the influence of family factors will not be repeated here), and this feeling influenced the creation of his films, especially the depiction of the image of the mother, in the Roman mother, Medea, Oedipus the King is represented, especially in the Gospel of Matthew, where Pasolini has his own mother play the Virgin Mary. The praise of mother is the purest sacrifice of Pasolini's film career. In the Roman mother, if the death of Ettore is likened to the death of Jesus, then the Roman mother is also the symbol of the Virgin. Although she was a prostitute, her love for her son was equally holy and great. The Virgin of the Embrace has also been expressed in film language many times. Roman mother dances tango with Ettore and rides a motorcycle together on the road. The close-up lens weakens the surrounding environment, and only the warm mother can be seen looking at her child affectionately. These two paragraphs are the whole film of mother and The closest moment to my son is also the most warm and happy moment...
In 1960, the wave of neorealism had declined, and people had come out of the shadow of the war. Roman mother reflected the Italian social situation in the early 1960s. It is the life of the proletariat and the petty capitalist classes, their confusion about life and their lack of belief.
Pasolini has said that, for him, the beginning of his admittedly cinematic career was marked by 1963's Soft Cheese, Mama Roma was a mistake... But I do appreciate this film because not only is there a new The aesthetic of realism is mixed with Pasolini-esque qualities. After watching it three times and collecting relevant information, I discovered the profound point of this movie. Pasolini is a geek in my eyes, but having seen Mama Roma, I respect him from the bottom of my heart as a master of cinema.
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