Appunti pasoliniani per un’orestiade africana

Abstract

Several years after translating the Aeschylus trilogy, Pasolini plans to film an Oresteia set in Africa. Cinecamera on shoulder, heading for the centre of the continent, he refilms tens of times, depicting the similarities between African tribal civilisation and Ancient Greece, comparing Orestes’ discovery of democracy with the process of modernisation to which African countries have been subject since the 1960s, reflecting on the transformation of the Furies in the Eumenides, on the delicate transition from an ancient magical world to a modern one, within which however the native spirit doesn’t want to and mustn’t be lost. This article seeks to highlight the way in which Pasolini has been influenced by and has translated into his work the history and culture of the African continent.

Ho pianto di vere lacrime, davanti a un
idoletto della tribù Baule, fatto di legno e
filamenti vegetali; ho pianto perché quello
era il piccolo nume contadino del Lazio di
Turno. Lacrime su un mondo perduto anche
nelle sue ultime propaggini.
(Pasolini, 1970:220)

Article text in Italian