The Canterbury Tales / Arabian Nights

THE CANTERBURY TALES, 1971, MGM Repertory, 109 min. Dir. Pier Paolo Pasolini. On a pilgrimage to Canterbury, a group of travelers agree to share stories to ease the journey – and we’re treated to a riotous carnival of lecherous old merchants, deceitful young wives, naked satyrs, houses of prostitution, a handsome devil in rent collector’s clothes and much more. With stunning production design by Dante Ferretti (GANGS OF NEW YORK) and a haunting score of period music selected by Pasolini and Ennio Morricone. Winner of the Golden Bear at the 1972 Berlin Film Festival. With Hugh Griffith, Laura Betti, Ninetto Davoli, Franco Citti and Pasolini himself as Geoffrey Chaucer. The print is the English dubbed version.

ARABIAN NIGHTS, 1974, MGM Repertory, 130 min. One of Pasolini’s greatest achievements, ARABIAN NIGHTS is a shimmering, golden dream of a film, drunk on its own beauty, where story after story unfolds like leaves in an ancient Persian manuscript.