Review #910: 'Oedipus Rex' (1967)

Pier Paolo Pasolini's Oedipus Rex is a relatively faithful adaptation of Sophocles' Greek tragedy Oedipus the King. Beginning in 1920's Italy, a baby boy is born and is instantly envied by the displaced father. The setting then changes to ancient times, where a baby boy is being carried out into the desert by a servant to be left out to die from exposure. He is eventually picked up by a shepherd, who takes him back to the King and Queen of Corinth, who adopt the youngster and love him like one of their own. The child grows up to be Edipo (Pasolini's frequent collaborator Franco Citti), an arrogant youth who wishes to see the world for himself. And so he set out on the road to Thebes, the place of his birth.

Plagued by a prophecy that dictates he is destined to murder his father and marry his mother, Edipo is a tortured but intuitive soul. He murders a rich man and his guards after they demand he clear a path for them on the road, and later frees a town from the clutches of a Sphinx by solving its riddle. Staying true to his own recognisable style, Pasolini tells the story of Oedipus not with a sweeping narrative, but through a collection of comedic, violent and often surreal vignettes, the most bizarre and ultimately thrilling being the scene in which Edipo murders the guards. He runs away from them as they chase him, before charging at them one by one and cutting them down. It's a moment without any real motivational insight, offering but a glimpse into Edipo's damaged psyche.

Post-Freud, the story of Oedipus cannot be experienced without reading into the incestuous and patricidal undertones. But these themes are less explored by Pasolini than the idea of Edipo being ultimately responsible for his own downfall. Rather than the inevitability of fate, Edipo creates his own path, committing murder on a whim and marrying while blinded by ambition. For a bulk of the film, Pasolini keeps the audience at arm's length, favouring his own brushes of surrealism over a traditional narrative. While this may be occasionally frustrating - the pre-war scenes than book-end the film seem out of place and confusing - Citti's wide-eyed performance is a fantastic distraction, and the Moroccan scenery helps provide a ghostly, Biblical atmosphere as well as a beautiful backdrop.


Directed by: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Starring: Franco Citti. Silvana Mangano, Alida Valli, Carmelo Bene, Julian Beck
Country: Italy/Morocco

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #346: 'Killer Nun' (1979)

Not specifically emblematic of the "nunsploitation" subgenre signifiers, which were so prevalent in the 1970's after Ken Russell's The Devils (1971), Guilio Berruti's Killer Nun is less exploitative. It doesn't offer a wildly extravagant, gun-toting nun. Nor does it have a convent of sexually repressed nuns, using crucifix's to subvert Christianity in any way. Sister Gertrude (Anita Ekberg, who's image of Sylvia in Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960) became iconic of European cinema), complains of severe headaches after undergoing neurosurgery, and appears to be suffering from hallucinations. These progressively become exacerbated by an habitual use of opiates, and Gertrude's behaviour on the ward of the geriatrics hospital, and her work is disturbed. In one outburst, she is annoyed by a patient, Josephine (Nerina Montagnani), who has left her false teeth in a glass of water, Sister takes then out and stamps until they break.

A series of strange deaths occur in and around the hospital, and the suspicion begins to focus upon sister Gertrude. Her personal confusion is spiralling out of control, and she is not even aware if she is the culprit. Killer Nun is not exactly what I was expecting. As I stated, there are none of the obvious imagery associated with the nun subgenre. So whilst it was not the fun, exciting and possibly humorous experience I expected, it wasn't exactly a bad place to spend 90 minutes. It had some over-the-top but good performances from Ekberg, and also from Andy Warhol regular Joe Dallesandro, who plays Dr Patrick Roland, who eventually becomes seduced by a subversive woman in a habit.

The film tries to have a more psychological aspect to the narrative, but I can't help but miss the rampant nuns, writhing around in their own sexual debauchery, attempting to obliterate and subvert every religious image possible. A nun with a gun is also something of a pleasurable juxtaposition. Killer Nun is also purported to be based on a real life incident, but I have not verified this.


Directed by: Giulio Berruti
Starring: Anita Ekberg, Paola Morra, Alida Valli, Joe Dallesandro
Country: Italy

Rating: ***

Marc Ivamy