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Teorema (Theorem) (1968)

tomatometer

All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 14
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 2

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 0

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Movie Info

Terence Stamp is known only as "The Visitor" in Pier Paolo Pasolini's Teorema. The mysterious stranger insinuates himself into the home of a wealthy Italian family, where he exerts a curious, sensual spirituality over everyone in the household. He then proceeds to seduce everyone in the family (male and female) including the maid, which gives each person some sort of unique epiphany. Because he reveals so little about his innermost thoughts, "The Visitor" becomes all things to all people. What

Unrated, 1 hr. 38 min.

Art House & International, Drama

Directed By: Pier Paolo Pasolini

Written By: Pier Paolo Pasolini

In Theaters: Sep 7, 1968 Wide

On DVD: Oct 4, 2005

Continental Motion Pictures

Cast

Critic Reviews for Teorema (Theorem)

All Critics (14) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (12) | Rotten (3) | DVD (4)

The narrative, almost silent in the first half, is unusually clear for a film by Pasolini. Performance by all members of the cast are praiseworthy, though Stamp dominates the first half and Betti, the second.

October 23, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety

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Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

The movie itself is the message, a series of cool, beautiful, often enigmatic scenes that flow one into another with the rhythm of blank verse.

May 9, 2005 Full Review Source: New York Times

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Vincent Canby

New York Times

Top Critic

I don't feel ready to write about this mysterious film; perhaps, a week from now, I'll decide it is very bad, a failure. But perhaps it is the most brilliant work yet by that strange director, Pier Paolo Pasolini.

October 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

Apart from his final feature, Salo, this is probably Pier Paolo Pasolini's most controversial film, and to my mind one of his very best.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

A heavily symbolic and highly intellectual look at the bourgeois milieu and the effect that a mysterious visitor, Stamp, has on one specific family.

October 23, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

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TV Guide's Movie Guide

You'll either find it brilliant, or maddening. And neither response would be wrong.

April 11, 2007 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

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Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

What would be pretentious and strained in the hands of most directors, with Pasolini takes on an intense air of magical revelation.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

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Time Out

A must-see for fans of Terence Stamp and his magical British package. Others beware.

October 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

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Dan Callahan

Slant Magazine

Highly regarded in some quarters, Pier Paulo Pasolini's Teorema is basically a film about Terence Stamp's crotch.

October 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

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Dan Callahan

Slant Magazine

earnest experiment, but it's simply too obtuse to be a success, and too undercooked (not to mention sloppily put together) to make much of an impact

October 4, 2005 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com

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Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

A magical lyrical work about the improbable.

January 6, 2004 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

A fascinating, infuriating, cryptic allegory featuring a performance from Terence Stamp as memorable as his brilliant blue stare.

May 24, 2003 Full Review Source: Film4

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Jon Fortgang

Film4

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Audience Reviews for Teorema (Theorem)

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Arresting and profound! The film begins with the ending. Stamp acts as an awakener to the pseudo-existence of the bourgeoisie. Stamp's character can be summarized by a Nick Cave lyric: I found god and all of his devils inside h(im). The second half of the film, or upon Stamp's departure, is lingeringly complex. Upon

January 5, 2012

Stefanie C

Super Reviewer

A very Christian rumination: what is the meaning of life? Pasolini poetically, lyrically offers the Book of Ecclessiates by Solomon (" ... everything is vanity ") for consideration. Made in the Sixties it reflects some of the counter- cultural ideas that were sweeping through the affluent West at that time.

July 30, 2011