This documentary opens with some lines from a poem by Pier Paolo Pasolini, “10 giugno” from 1962. The famous filmmaker and poet talks about his life, beginning with his troubled relationship with his father.

Pasolini talks about his first book of poetry and what he realized about his country when it was published in 1942. He explains why reviewers wouldn't touch it.

Pasolini talks about the Italian language and how it has been transformed over the years.

Pasolini talks about how artists are always controversial. They are a living protest. His protest involves language and national identity.

Pasolini talks about how he moved from literature to cinema, and how his ideas about language changed. He talked about providing Italians with an opportunity to demonstrate racism, perhaps for the first time, with his movie, Accattone.

In this segment, we're on the set with Pasolini as he shouts directions to Totò through his megaphone, and at the same time discusses the shoot with his crew. Naturally, authenticity often means people speak over each other, so it's hard to understand what is said. Then, Pasolini is asked by a journalist about his views on neorealism and here, the speech is clearer (and interesting), so don't give up!

Pasolini is asked what he thinks about progress and development. He is also asked about the inspiration he seems to have taken from subjects of the New Testament of the Bible.

Pasolini doesn't want to talk about his enemies, but does talk about the people he loves the most: simple folk, who might not have even finished grade school. For his early films, he took inspiration from Antonio Gramsci.

In a Q & A, Pasolini explains to a journalist what he means when he refers to the elite. In another clip, he asks people on the beach about sex.

Still on the beach, Pasolini asks more people their opinions on divorce, which became legal in 1970. The second part of this segment is part of a 1969 episode of Processo alla tappa, a TV talk show devoted to the Giro d'Italia (the Tour of Italy), a famous, 21-stage bike race.

Pasolini explains the difficulty of framing a city through the lens, only for it to be ruined by modern buildings that seem to have nothing to do with the form of the city itself. He wants anonymous, simple poetry to be preserved just like the works of Dante and Petrarca.

Pasolini talks about the gates to the city of Orte. They may be simple, and built by unnamed men, but that doesn't mean they don't have value to protect. He moves on to talk about Sabaudia, a city built by the fascist regime, on reclaimed marshland, roughly halfway between Rome and Naples.

Pier Paolo Pasolini discusses the effects Fascism had on Italy. He talks about the city of Sabaudia, built by the fascist government on the reclaimed marshland of the ancient Pontine Marshes (Agro Pontino) and how later, what took hold was the culture of consumerism.

As the credits role in this final segment, we hear a song written and performed by Fabrizio De André (together with Massimo Bubola. Una storia sbagliata (a story all wrong) was commissioned for a 1980 TV show about Pasolini's death, called Dietro il processo (behind the trial). You can hear the entire song here, while here you'll find the complete lyrics in Italian.