Accattone

Pasolini's neutrality towards the characters here is refreshing: few of them are saints, but most of them have some redeeming qualities, and the viewer is invited to empathize without judging them. Though Accattone is kind of a lazy scumbag, we also feel how the environment of poverty, hunger and unemployment contributes to his status. The tone is somewhat neo-realist without the more tedious trappings of the genre, and manages to keep the situations and characters interesting throughout.

Interesting, pretty bleak portrait of a pimp's life. I had a hard time relating to the characters, though, so it doesn't quite live up to Pasolini's Mama Roma or, say, Fellini's Nights of Cabiria. Still worth seeing for its candidness and objective take on poverty and desperation.

Poopless Pasolini movies are too dry for me I think...

More interesting than satisfying. It's a study of laziness and darkness. Looking for shortcuts instead of doing honest work, though when the honest work is thankless, backbreaking, and for next to no pay, why not? There's no judgment on the characters, and the tone is very matter-of-fact making it a surprisingly assured directorial debut.

This is my first Pasolini movie and it has to be said that it is a highly impressive debut film. The story is enthralling and the performances are for the most part as well, although there are quite a few moments when the non-professional nature of the actors manifests in a way that disrupts the flow of the film in a detrimental way. There is no doubt that it is at the same time brutal and delicate - hallmarks of neorealism - in its portrayal of Roman life at this time as a moral quagmire.

I truly love the cemetery dream sequence. It's too beautiful.

I know I'm in a minority, but I regret to see Pasolini move into the director's chair, because he was never able to treat his own stories as well as Fellini and Mauro Bolognini had when he was writing for them. Accattone is the first in a little over a decade's worth of relatively fumbling directing work marked by lackadaisical editing and distractingly anachronistic baroque soundtracks. They're still good films for the most part, but they stole the center stage from even better contemporaries.

Social realism done pretty well. The characters make the story and the dialogue is imaginative.

(Viewed on 19/05/13): If you want to see where Scorsese got the idea to film Raging Bull as an operatic tragedy about a complete asshole, look no further than Accattone, but unlike LaMotta, Accattone is framed as a victim of his miserable economic circumstances, forcing him to lead a life that's less than noble. Citti is superb as Accattone, eliciting both disgust and sympathy in a difficult role, and it was a fine debut from Pasolini that is superior to his largely overrated late color works.

great thoughts on meaninglessness of work, precarity and a good argument for basic income

Em honra do centenário de Silvana Corsini. O dito cinema da poesia de Pasolini já é visualizado desde seu primeiro filme, não com tanta eloquência como seus filmes futuros, mas já de forma bem delineada em cada enquadramento e mais ainda na belíssima sequência do sonho, esta que extrais ao máximo dos acontecimentos passados para formalizar um desejo inconsciente de pura pulsão de morte. Plus: A calada colega de cela da Silvana Corsini é ninguém menos do que a escritora Elsa Morante,

Take note, countries of the world. This is how you run a police force.

Funnily enough I didn't find it so grim as other neorealism films, mostly because of cast's genuine outlook on life and everyday troubles, and that Italian way of life (not thinking of these wise guys way of life). Of course the theme is not even close to light or moral, but somehow it works as a satire and you have to see through cool hand Lukes and see what this powerful film is really about. Surprisingly easy going for such a difficult film.

Unique coverage for scenes. Overall, much of religious imagery and political context must have been lost on me, as mostly this just felt like a meandering character study of an occasionally fascinating guy. However, the last half hour I found rather beautiful and I finally found a way to empathize with the protagonist.

what a debut

Undeniably well done with a strong performance by Franco Citti in the lead, but it's hard to sympathize at all with him. It's also neorealism, or something resembling it, and I nearly always have issues with the extremely hit or miss acting of using nonprofessional/inexperienced actors, and this is no exception. The dream sequence toward the end does a fairly good job of capturing dream logic.

Shot aesthetically and that is the main strength. Unfortunately, amateur actors deliver extremely poor performance, script is dull and subtle like a hammer hit. Maybe it had shock value when premiered in the 60s but now it's just bleak.

Bir pezevenge bu kadar üzüleceğim asla aklıma gelmezdim. Ruhundan öptüm Pasolini

Bleak, incredibly realistic, beautifully shot and very well acted. Probably very influential. It's not an easy watch but the filmmaking is undeniably impressive, especially given it was Pasolini's first movie.

Pasolini's first film follows Accattone, a lazy degenerate pimp making a meagre living on the streets of Rome. It's a tough, bleak portrayal of the Italian underclass but it never quite achieves the desired neorealist tone, and aside from an excellent dream sequence, few scenes stand out. Franco Citti, then a complete unknown, sells the depraved protagonist convincingly.

The pimps are the "part of no part". They refuse to fit in the system yet they call themselves "the Italians". That doesn't make them very likeable of course, they exploit women in the most disgusting way after all. There is no hope, only wonder when Vittorio Accatone meets Stella and he can't believe how she can have such a beautiful face in this ugly world.

Star Rating: ★★★★

Superb.

Passolini entertained a gander into the post-WWII life in Italy; a study of the callous social psycho dynamics based on material/capital value-based affinities, and male chauvinism combined with the struggle for survival in wretchedly deprived economic realities. Accattone is time capsule of life in Italian history while simeulteanously capturing emotions and spirituality.

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While echoing neorealism Pasolini strips away the sentimentality and presents us with an unvarnished social study, characters we may be unable to sympathize with but who are understandable none the less.

"Unsophisticated in a good way but betraying its influences this gritty crime piece is one for true fans of Italian realism"

"Pasolini succeeds in taking a small story anchored in the grim realities of post-war poverty and deprivation and giving it the sweep of operatic, even transcendent, emotion and spirituality."

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Pasolini should really be known for more than Salo. In this, his first feature, he continues the neorealist aesthetic of his forebearers to some of its purest heights.

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