Intra-Muros [IM Pasolini]

An ode to Pasolini; on politics, Utopia, power, sex, life and death

The composer Eric Sleichim and the writer Peter Verhelst join forces for a music-theatre ode to the Italian poet, film-maker and novelist Pier Paolo Pasolini. They are supported by two actors, a countertenor, a vocal quartet, a string quartet and electronics.

In Intra-Muros Pasolini directs his last film. He holds a monologue in which he considers politics, violence, power, Utopia, arbitrariness, sex, and life and death. His mother listens to him and comments. At times she appears to be possessed by another character who relentlessly describes erotic scenes. However, we are especially aware of an angelic voice, the voice of Pasolini’s young brother who died at a tender age. Is it possible that this is not Pasolini’s last film but the direction of his own death?

A number of elements remind us of Salò, o le 120 giornate di Sodoma, the confrontational film in which Pasolini ruthlessly analyses suffering and Fascism. As in Pasolini’s other films, here too music plays an important role. Eight young musicians, who represent the children of left-wing intellectuals who experience the vengeance of Fascism, have fused together with their instruments in such a way that they appear to give voice to the innermost part of the body.