This film screened on Sunday 6th September 2015. 

Returning to the 14th century for material, this time in the work of Chaucer, the second instalment of the trilogy recounts the tales told by travellers on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. As with the previous adaptation, Pasolini favours stories of the common born over those of nobles and knights, unless it is to once again satirise those in positions of authority. Somewhat more restrained in its excesses than The Decameron, the film nonetheless delights in its bawdiness, with only the final segment, a vision of the hell that awaits clergy who betray the word of God, showing the director’s more political side.

Showing as part of our Focus on Pier Paolo Pasolini (September 5th-13th). Abel Ferrara’s Pasolini opens at the IFI on Friday, September 11th.