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Mar 14, 2018KennethSmith rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
All you need to know in advance is that the movie is based on Boccaccio's "Decameron", and the rest follows as a matter of course. For some reason, the DVD case (Mongrel) states this fact precisely nowhere, thus contributing to many viewers' false expectations. Second viewing (27/10/2021): Giovanni Boccaccio’s scandalous 14th century book “The Decameron” became a Rabelaisian 20th century movie for Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1970. But that time around, our amusing tale of the randy Italian nunnery was just one segment among eight in Pasolini’s omnibus version. Pasolini made a greater effort to be true to Boccaccio’s time period. This new version makes a point of being as unashamedly contemporary in its dialogue as possible. Pasolini has a surprise appearance from Silvana Mangano; this version has the less pretty but funnier Paul Reiser. The movie director Paul Weitz (“About a Boy”) is cast in a small acting role at the beginning. The “rat box” described here with relish by Nick Offerman appeared as an actuality in “Game of Thrones”. Aubrey Plaza, one of this film’s producers, may have had a hand in hiring Offerman, her former costar from “Parks and Recreation”.