Nerolio

This film depicts three episodes in the life of the highly eccentric, unabashedly homosexual Italian filmmaker Per Paolo Pasolini. Pasolini was best known to Americans for his film The Gospel According to St. Matthew. However, in his native Italy, he was at least as well known for his writing and poetry as for his filmmaking. In the first episode, Pasolini (Marco Cavicchioli) waxes poetic about the beauty of young men during a visit to Sicily. The second and more interesting segment concerns a meeting with a young man who visits Pasolini thinking that though he is an old has-been, Pasolini may be able to do him a favor. Pasolini twigs to the boy's intentions, and a sparring session ensues. The final episode shows him picking up a young man at Rome's train station and the events that led to his beating death in 1975.

Directed by Aurelio Grimaldi, Nerolio leans on a strong ensemble — Marco Cavicchioli, Lucia Sardo, Vincenzo Crivello — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 1998.