The movie tells the story of the final days of Italian film director Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1975 while he's in the process of defending his latest film Salo, 120 Days of Sodom from the censors.
Despite Ferrara's insistence that he and his key crew are devout students of Pasolini's cinema, he applies the lessons of this apprenticeship freely, without mimicry.
It is difficult for anyone unfamiliar with Pasolini to keep track and to appreciate all of the details in what is undoubtedly a lovingly researched but ultimately hard-to-grasp homage.
Even cineastes with a good working knowledge of Pier Paolo Pasolini's life and works are going to struggle to navigate this capriciously intricate account of his final days in November 1975.
Abel Ferrara's reverent portrait of Pier Paolo Pasolini's last day alive serves as both a fan's impassioned eulogy and a speculative glimpse at what might have transpired.
It's an absorbing portrait, particularly compelling when relying on Pasolini's own words, which we hear verbatim through original letters and interviews.
The heady cocktail of politics, religion, blowjobs and murder is catnip for Ferrara, although anyone not versed in the controversies of Salò may leave the film none the wiser.