HOME |  CULT MOVIES | COMPETITIONS | ADVERTISE |  CONTACT US |  ABOUT US
 
 
 
Newest Reviews
American Fiction
Poor Things
Thunderclap
Zeiram
Legend of the Bat
Party Line
Night Fright
Pacha, Le
Kimi
Assemble Insert
Venus Tear Diamond, The
Promare
Beauty's Evil Roses, The
Free Guy
Huck and Tom's Mississippi Adventure
Rejuvenator, The
Who Fears the Devil?
Guignolo, Le
Batman, The
Land of Many Perfumes
Cat vs. Rat
Tom & Jerry: The Movie
Naked Violence
Joyeuses Pacques
Strangeness, The
How I Became a Superhero
Golden Nun
Incident at Phantom Hill
Winterhawk
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Maigret Sets a Trap
B.N.A.
Hell's Wind Staff, The
Topo Gigio and the Missile War
Battant, Le
Penguin Highway
Cazadore de Demonios
Snatchers
Imperial Swordsman
Foxtrap
   
 
Newest Articles
3 From Arrow Player: Sweet Sugar, Girls Nite Out and Manhattan Baby
Little Cat Feat: Stephen King's Cat's Eye on 4K UHD
La Violence: Dobermann at 25
Serious Comedy: The Wrong Arm of the Law on Blu-ray
DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery and More on Blu-ray
Monster Fun: Three Monster Tales of Sci-Fi Terror on Blu-ray
State of the 70s: Play for Today Volume 3 on Blu-ray
The Movie Damned: Cursed Films II on Shudder
The Dead of Night: In Cold Blood on Blu-ray
Suave and Sophisticated: The Persuaders! Take 50 on Blu-ray
Your Rules are Really Beginning to Annoy Me: Escape from L.A. on 4K UHD
A Woman's Viewfinder: The Camera is Ours on DVD
Chaplin's Silent Pursuit: Modern Times on Blu-ray
The Ecstasy of Cosmic Boredom: Dark Star on Arrow
A Frosty Reception: South and The Great White Silence on Blu-ray
You'll Never Guess Which is Sammo: Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon on Blu-ray
Two Christopher Miles Shorts: The Six-Sided Triangle/Rhythm 'n' Greens on Blu-ray
Not So Permissive: The Lovers! on Blu-ray
Uncomfortable Truths: Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold on MUBI
The Call of Nostalgia: Ghostbusters Afterlife on Blu-ray
Moon Night - Space 1999: Super Space Theater on Blu-ray
Super Sammo: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son on Blu-ray
Sex vs Violence: In the Realm of the Senses on Blu-ray
What's So Funny About Brit Horror? Vampira and Bloodbath at the House of Death on Arrow
Keeping the Beatles Alive: Get Back
   
 
  RoGoPaG World Ends Today
Year: 1963
Director: Jean-Luc Godard, Pier Paolo Pasolini, etc
Stars: Rosanna Schiaffino, Bruce Balaban, Jean-Marc Bory, Alexandra Stewart, Mario Cipriani, Orson Welles, Ugo Tognazzi, Lisa Gastoni, Carlo Zappavigna, Laura Betti, Vittorio La Paglia, Gianrico Tedeschi, Maria Bernardini, Ettore Garofolo, Tomas Milian
Genre: Comedy, DramaBuy from Amazon
Rating:  6 (from 1 vote)
Review: RoGoPaG took its title from the surnames of the writer-directors who created each of the four segments: Roberto Rossellini, Jean-Luc Godard, Pier Paolo Pasolini and the least well known, Ugo Gregoretti. Rossellini's episode features an air hostess, Annamaria (Rosanna Schiaffino) on a flight to Thailand who is the focus of a lot of interest from one of the passengers, Joe (Bruce Balaban). He is the sort of man who believes everything he reads in Playboy and does his level best to insinuate himself into Annamaria's life, having put her on a pedastal. The camera-obsessed stewardess regularly sends footage of her trip back to her boyfriend, and he and a psychiatrist work out a method to chase Joe away. The psychology used here is amateur at best, and the lasting feeling is of a mere unworthy trifle by the celebrated filmmaker.

A lot of this feeling could apply to Godard's entry, the shortest of the bunch, which concerns a husband (Jean-Marc Bory) who feels his wife (Alexandra Stewart) is growing more distant from him. A series of conversations that don't really go anywhere is what follows, and the sensational news that a huge nuclear bomb has exploded over Paris, where the couple live, does little to electrify the situation. Eventually (I say eventually, it doesn't seem that long at all) the husband reaches an understanding with his missus as the effects of the bomb change attitudes in the city, and a new kind of personal freedom is acheived. This one is largely unilluminating throughout.

But it's not all bad, as Pasolini's story is a lot more sprightly, even if it does build to an unhappy ending. Orson Welles plays a pretentious director (modelled on Pasolini himself? we wonder) who is creating a religious movie with a group of actors and technicians who don't really care about the subject matter, and one of them, Stracci (Mario Cipriani), who plays the Good Thief crucified at Christ's side, is more concerned about his stomach than anything else. Amusing scenes of Stracci trying and failing to fill his tummy provide much of the entertainment, yet cheeky Pasolini is making a serious point about the Church's hypocritical neglect of the needy. Welles, seated in a director's chair for much of his appearance, only makes an impression when interviewed by a journalist who doesn't understand what he's on about.

Coming in second best is Gregoretti's entry, an amused potshot at consumerism which cuts a lecture given by a professor on the subject (who uses an electronic voicebox throughout, for some reason) in amongst scenes of a family visiting a site of what they hope will be their new house. The father (Ugo Tognazzi) is bombarded with ads everywhere, or so he feels, and viewers of a certain age may feel a nostalgic rush when they see Topo Gigio in a TV commercial, if disturbed by his callous treatment. When they hit the road, the father grows ever more irate, and stopping at a restaurant where he is obliged to buy a lot of useless items for his family doesn't ease his temper. There's a nice visual gag here when after he has explained battery chickens to his son, we see the patrons packed into their booths as chickens themselves. RoGoPaG mainly holds interest for the Pasolini episode which had him tackle religion in a less respectful way than his later The Gospel According to St Matthew.

[This film is available as part of Tartan's Region 2 Pasolini box set, Volume 1, along with Accatone and Love Meetings.]
Reviewer: Graeme Clark

 

This review has been viewed 6402 time(s).

As a member you could Rate this film

 
Review Comments (0)


Untitled 1

Login
  Username:
 
  Password:
 
   
 
Forgotten your details? Enter email address in Username box and click Reminder. Your details will be emailed to you.
   

Latest Poll
Which star probably has psychic powers?
Laurence Fishburne
Nicolas Cage
Anya Taylor-Joy
Patrick Stewart
Sissy Spacek
Michelle Yeoh
Aubrey Plaza
Tom Cruise
Beatrice Dalle
Michael Ironside
   
 
   

Recent Visitors
  Stuart Watmough
Paul Shrimpton
Darren Jones
Mary Sibley
Enoch Sneed
Mark Le Surf-hall
  Louise Hackett
Andrew Pragasam
   

 

Last Updated: