This is my favorite Pasolini film. This version of Arabian Nights does away with the slave girl telling a master tales: it tells the tale of a slave girl who outwits every man she contacts. First at the slave market she arranges to have herself bought by a young man instead of an old coot. Then she has to teach the man how to make love. Throughout the poem (it works better as visual poetry) Zummarud, the slave girl, gets into one mess after another with all kinds of men (kings, crooks, and governors): every time she outwits them. Along the way are various poetic tales of betrayal and justice (and other things.) Definitely not in the Aladdin vein and a masterpiece of cinema.
Review of Arabian Nights
