Just Saying Hi Again + Pasolini

Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,

Just to say hi once again. A basic day for me, though I watched the first half of a tremendous film : "The Gospel According To St. Matthew" by director Pier Paolo Pasolini. The actual title is in Italian, so you would know it better than I, and I made it a point to watch the original Italian version, which is much longer and shot in b&w. The dvd (from the Libe) features a colorised, 90 minute version, which is dubbed in English (and thus horrible, if you've ever seen a foreign film dubbed), and this was the popular version in America, for those who know Pasolini. I had heard of him, from a long time ago, but this was my first time seeing one of his films, so I wanted The Real Deal. The black & white original is 2 hours 17 minutes. It is set in two parts, and so I just watched Part One tonight because of my work schedule, but man oh man what a movie.

Pasolini used non-professional actors, the guy playing Jesus was a college student, and yet he is very powerful in the role, probably due to being pushed by the director. The rest of the actors simply look like weathered and impoverished local citizens, but this has the effect of making it all look like real life instead of mythologising it. The outdoor location shooting is incredible (I hope Criterion will one day restore it), and it looks like they shot in an area with ancient caves and hillside dwellings that really look like they are two thousand years old.

A friend at the CSUN Cinematheque mentioned Pasolini a few weeks ago, and so - having heard of him but never having seen any of his movies - I ordered this one from the Libe because I thought it was perfect for Easter time. Pasolini's other movies, which were notorious in the 1970s, are quite a bit more decadent, and perhaps not as much my style, though I may give 'em a try now that I see how great this film is.

I saw a couple posts, one regarding drivers in Florida lol. I had always heard that the driving situation down there was an Old People Thing, with seniors plugging along at 25mph. Your post says the exact opposite, but it makes sense in that South Florida is the entry point for most of the coke that comes into the USA, as we talked about last week when I mentioned the Bryan Cranston movie.

I don't know what the drivers are on here in L.A. (probably just coffee, sugar, alcohol, sugar, and more sugar, and what are known as "excitotoxins" - meaning poisonous food additives that produce aggressive behavior), but driving here is like being in the Indy 500. Not all the time, but you've gotta be on top of it. For locals like me, it's second nature, but I can imagine what a visitor would think.

Well anyhow, that's all for tonight. Hope all is well. Post if you can.

I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)