Teorema

1968 Italian drama

Rating: 18/20

Plot: A visitor bonks every member of a family and the maid. When he leaves, they don't know what to do with themselves.

Hooked from the onset with that great Morricone opening theme and a silent film style opening pre-telegram. And that was all before Terence Stamp brought his eyes into the movie. You could say the allure of Terence Stamp on this family has to do with those eyes, but it's likely got more to do with his oppressive pants bulge. Seriously, in the first half of the movie, it seems like that bulge is always there, like Pasolini is doing everything he force the viewer to focus on that. If Stamp is some sort of Christ figure--and he very well might be!--and that bulge is some sort of immaculate bulge--and it very well  might be!--then that explains why I lost sleep after watching this, imaging what the miracle of sex with Terence Stamp must be like and reflecting on what waiting for a second coming (no pun intended--I swear) must be like.

I believe the birds have more dialogue in this movie than the humans. They're omnipresent.

But what about those human characters and their reactions to this visitor's unexpected arrival, his captivating bulge, and his unexpected departure? Each character is shown either seducing or being seduced, and each character but one is given a chance to talk about what meaning the experience had for them. For the dad, it changed his image of himself. The wife was sterile, apathetic, and her relationship with Stamp awakened interests she didn't realize were dormant in her. The son talked about a change, and the daughter talked about womanhood. The maid, subtly shown as religious, might undergo the most change, but she doesn't get a chance to talk about it with Stamp. Instead, she just comically helps him with a suitcase. Following that departure, each character has a kind of post-epiphany denouement.

It's hard to figure out what it's all about, but reading thoughts from others online was fun. Is it just a Brunuelian attack on the bourgeoisie? Is it about religion? Is it about Pasolini's repressed homosexuality? It's it Marxist? The film's a lovely kind of perplexing, the kind of thing that can cause one to yell at a volcano or something.