Accattone (1961)
Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini

Drama
aka: Accattone!

Film Review

Abstract picture representing Accattone (1961)
Having established himself as one of Italy's foremost writers in the 1950s, Pier Paolo Pasolini began his film-making career with Accattone, which he based on his novel “A Violent Life”.   As in many of his subsequent films, Accattone is semi-autobiographical, recounting Pasolini's own experiences in the “little homelands”, the slum areas around the Italian capital.   The style and subject of this film were both radical and hugely controversial at the time - Pasolini's sympathetic depiction of a cynical pimp being particularly hard for a mainly Catholic Italian audience to digest.

What is perhaps most striking about Accattone is the way in which it is filmed.  The location shooting and naturalistic performances (from a cast composed entirely of non-professional actors) suggest a neo-realist style.  However, the way in which many scenes are framed (reminiscent of Italian masterpieces of the Renaissance) and the extensive use of music from Bach give the film a strongly spiritual, almost religious, feel.  The combination of harsh images of very real human suffering and beautiful cinematography makes this a deeply poignant and intensely involving piece of cinema.

As in Pasolini's subsequent film, Mamma Roma, the film graphically illustrates the hardship and ennui endured by young people living in the slum towns.  Both films also show how difficult it is to break out of a life of crime and prostitution and attempt to make a better life.  The central figures in many of Pasolini's films are like flies hopelessly buffeting a window pane: they glimpse a better life but are powerless ever to reach it.

© James Travers 2002
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Pier Paolo Pasolini film:
Mamma Roma (1962)

Film Synopsis

In the slums outside Rome, a young man nicknamed Accattone passes the time with his friends, all of whom have no prospect or desire to find an honest job.  Having walked out on his wife and young son, Accattone makes a reasonable living by pimping his girlfriend Maddalena.  One day, Accatonne's life suddenly changes when he meets an honest and pure girl, Stella.  Deeply in love with Stella, Accatonne finds them a place to live, starts to take an interest in personal hygiene, and gets a manual job. Accatonne's new-found happiness proves to be short-lived, however, as the pressure to return to his former life of crime proves too great to resist...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.


Film Credits

  • Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
  • Script: Pier Paolo Pasolini (story), Sergio Citti (dialogue)
  • Cinematographer: Tonino Delli Colli
  • Cast: Franco Citti (Vittorio "Accattone" Cataldi), Franca Pasut (Stella), Silvana Corsini (Maddalena), Paola Guidi (Ascenza), Adriana Asti (Amore), Luciano Conti (Il Moicano), Luciano Gonini (Piede D'Oro), Renato Capogna (Renato), Alfredo Leggi (Papo Hirmedo), Galeazzo Riccardi (Cipolla), Leonardo Muraglia (Mammoletto), Giuseppe Ristagno (Peppe), Roberto Giovannoni (The German), Mario Cipriani (Balilla), Roberto Scaringella (Cartagine), Silvio Citti (Sabino), Giovanni Orgitano (Scucchia), Piero Morgia (Pio), Umberto Bevilacqua (Salvatore), Franco Bevilacqua (Franco)
  • Country: Italy
  • Language: Italian
  • Support: Black and White
  • Runtime: 120 min
  • Aka: Accattone! ; The Scrounger

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