Director Abel Ferrara wisely relied on one of his favorite actors, Willem Dafoe, to play the renowned and controversial Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini in his last hours before his violent death on a beach in 1975.

Meticulous research and authentic locations (as well as Pasolini’s former lover and muse Ninetto Davoli’s presence) inform this brief portrait that captures the man’s essence in a series of vignettes: the intellectual, beloved son, passionate filmmaker, and gay man cruising for new, pretty talents.

His murder deserves more attention than it gets here, but the film feels loyal to its subject.

2014-France-Italy-Belgium. 84 min. Color. Directed by Abel Ferrara. Cast: Willem Dafoe (Pier Paolo Pasolini), Ninetto Davoli (Eduardo De Filippo), Riccardo Scamarcio (Ninetto Davoli), Valerio Mastandrea, Adriana Asti, Giada Colagrande.