Dario Vaccaro Only Pasolini could've filmed something of this kind. No-one else is this crazy. Almost fifty years after its release, the interpretation of the film has been almost settled: the visitor is God or some other superhuman entity, the obsession the family members develop is the taste of the unknown and their final mental breakdown is the inability of the bourgeois to live authentic feelings and to break their own limits. Supporting this interpretation is Emilia's fate, who unlike her masters goes back to her birthplace and is changed in better, almost to a God-like state.Sure, this film is not for everyone, least of all for people who know nothing about the context of Pasolini's beliefs and Italian society. But when you get them, you see a masterpiece of artistry, which is so much so that it loses itself in its mystery and gives little to the watcher to take home. What I mean is that, like many successful attempts at genius, "Teorema" lacks any emotional response by its viewers and any response at all by non intellectuals. It is regardless a milestone in Italian cinema and an incredible showcase of dream-like artistry.

tomgillespie2002 The bourgeoisie have long been a target for many of the great European film-makers. They were an object of fascination and humour for Luis Bunuel and were often portrayed as outwardly repulsive by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Jean-Luc Godard. In Theorem, Pier Paolo Pasolini ponders whether they are beyond hope and redemption, so far removed from our society that they are now of a different species altogether. The film begins outside of a factory, where the workers gather outside trying to understand why the owner has fled, leaving the entire company in the hands of its employees. They seem angry while a news reporter tries to comprehend the situation.In an upper-class Milan suburb, a wealthy family are informed of the imminent arrival of a stranger by a enthusiastic postman. The man, known only as the Visitor (Terence Stamp), suddenly appears at their home seemingly without reason, and immediately begins to affect the family and their maid. He stops the maid (Laura Betti) from committing suicide, soothes the son (Andres Jose Cruz Soblette) of his anxieties, eases the fears of the opposite sex of the daughter (Anne Wiazemsky), seduces the sexually repressed mother (Silvana Mangano), and nurses the seriously ill father (Massimo Girotti) back to health. He vanishes as quickly as he appeared, leaving his subjects in various states of bewilderment and enlightenment.Is the man God, the devil, or both? Ultimately, this question doesn't really matter. It's clear that the Stranger is a divine presence, but it's the effect he has on the unwitting family that is the most fascinating. The maid, a humble woman of low birth, returns to her village and is worshipped as a saint, and even appears to levitate at one point. The bourgeoisie family, however, start to slowly implode, climaxing with the father stripping himself naked and wandering into a desolate land. The Visitor seems to unlock their potential, only they - the maid aside - are unable to handle such divinity brought to them on a human level. The final scene includes a scream that may be ecstasy or pure terror, but Theorem doesn't make it that easy to unravel. This is a complex and fascinating work by one of the Italian masters, and one that will have you trying to pull apart its themes days after you have watched it.

Jugu Abraham Ranks alongside his "Gospel According to St Mathew." I saw several metaphorical links in "Theorem" to Fellini's "Nights of Cabiria," a film scripted by Pasolini; the contribution of Pasolini to the lovely Fellini film is often overlooked.The allusion to the Terrence Stamp character as Christ is not difficult to pick up. The political context is also more than obvious. "Theorem" encapsulates all of Pasolini's genius evident elsewhere, in one work.Here's a Pier Paolo Pasolini film that's different--he uses good looking established actors unlike his other works where he would pick actors unknown and less attractive. In "Theorem" the good looking characters are contrasted with the ugly, non-professional actors intentionally.The film might appear overtly to be about sex but Pasolini's canvas captures a lot more than the obvious. Brilliant casting. Mozart's "Requiem" rendered by the Russian Academy Choir is transcendental. Morricone's use of wind instruments is so different here but captures the mood of loneliness. Terrence Stamp is the eye candy of the film, just as he was in "Far from the Madding Crowd". All three ladies: Sylvano Mangano, Laura Betti and former Mrs Jean Luc Godard (Ann Wiazemsky) give more than interesting performances--each body movement tells you so much. Words are rarely required to communicate in "Theorem"; visuals and music do more in that department.

Jafar Iqbal A wealthy family welcome a strange visitor into their home. The Visitor (Terence Stamp) proceeds to seduce everyone in the family – mother, daughter, son, maid and father – before leaving a few days later. Once he leaves, each member of the family is unable to continue living the way they used to. Who was this mysterious man? Jesus? God? A master manipulator? I'll be honest, I've seen very little European New Wave cinema, and I've seen even less Italian cinema of any kind. I was hoping I'd hit the jackpot with this film, an Italian New Wave movie, starring the incomparable Terence Stamp and having quite an interesting story. But, annoyingly, I was wrong.There are some things to like about 'Teorema' but, for the most part, it's a lot of pretentious nonsense. The long drawn-out shot; the extended periods of time without any dialogue; the strange scenes where nothing relatively important or interesting seemed to happen. It was a film that was trying to be too clever.Now, I don't know, maybe I'm just not that educated on that cinematic style. Perhaps it requires a certain of technical film knowledge that I don't have. But, in my opinion, a good film is a good film, it shouldn't require a higher plane of understanding to be enjoyed. And I didn't enjoy it.There are some positives. Terence Stamp is typically brilliant as the lead – while I didn't like the extreme lack of dialogue, there's no denying that Stamp was able to say so much with just his facial expressions. Laura Betti, as the maid, is another standout performer and arguably it's highlight. Visually, too , the film is brilliant. I didn't understand some of the imagery, but the imagery was beautiful. 1960s Milan also looks amazing on screen.If the film's narrative was as enjoyable as the visuals of the movie, I'd have revered it as a classic. But it's too hard to understand at times, unnecessarily. I'd still argue that it's an important film to watch, just because it's a textbook (albeit unsuccessfully handled) example of European New Wave. Just a pity it couldn't be better.