Accattone (1961)

A pimp with no other means to provide for himself finds his life spiraling out of control when his prostitute is sent to prison.

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writers:

Pier Paolo Pasolini (story), Pier Paolo Pasolini (screenplay)

Stars:

Franco Citti, Franca Pasut, Silvana Corsini

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

In a seedy section of Rome, Vittorio Cataldi - "Accattone" ("beggar" in Italian) to those that know him - lives off the avails of prostitution, Maddalena being his one and only girl. He is married to Ascenza with who he has one young son named Iaio, but he does not live with them - they who live with her father and brother - provide for them, or play any important part of their lives. He generally hangs out with his similarly slack life friends playing cards and drinking. His source of income is threatened when Maddalena is injured being hit by a motorcyclist, then beaten by rivals of his, which leads to her being arrested and jailed for a year. Largely because of Iaio, Accattone contemplates going straight and getting a real job. Then he meets Stella, a young innocent woman who has had a hard life, but who is not as naive to the ways of the world as she first appears. Accattone falls in love with her, but as the thought of working a steady job now becomes abhorrent, contemplates ...

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Plot Keywords:

deception | italy | 1950s | ethical dilemma | moral dilemma | 

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Taglines:

The Poor Man's "Dolce Vita"

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Paolo Bonacelli, one of the main stars of Pasolini's final movie Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975), Pasolini was in mind Giorgio Cataldi to play the part of Accattone, but he was replaced by Franco Citti because he was in jail at the moment of the filming. Cataldi would do the first of his only two films in Pasolini's Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975), along with Bonacelli.

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Quotes

Franco: Accattone you owe me 1000 lire, pay up before you kill yourself.

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Alternate Versions

The VHS and DVD versions produced by Water Bearer Films are listed as running 116 minutes, suggesting that this print is four minutes shorter than the original release.

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Connections

Featured in Pier Paolo Pasolini (1995)

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Soundtracks

St Matthew Passion
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

An Enlightening View to the Underworld in Post-War Rome

This is still a masterpiece of a film you can not afford not to see if you like Pasolini. "Accattone" is the directorial debut of the Italian neo-realist, Pier Paolo Pasolini, but by a strange coincidence it ended up being the very last of all his movies that I saw. I had seen everything he ever did, including short films by the time I got to "Accatone" and still found it masterful.

Franco Citti stars as the title character, he is a handsome pimp in Rome's post-war lower depths, with an endearing face that speaks volumes of his street-wise upbringing in the slums. To those unaccustomed with Southern Italian culture the way he spends his days with the other local pimps, playing cards and being lazy may seem vile, but it is actually a well grounded tradition, as is also his support of the entire family of his imprisoned friend, Ciccio, who depend on him for survival. He is obviously a fellow mobster, and their code of honor is at stake when Accatone discovers that he is in prison as a result of his whore, Maddalena, played by Silvana Corsini, who denounced Ciccio to the authorities. Even though she is recovering from a broken leg, Accatone forces her to go on the streets, where she is used, beaten and abandoned by Accatone's pals after he tells them the story, then she is found by the police and arrested. Accattone nearly starves to death from the total lack of income, he even sells all his jewelry to get by. He tries to reunite with his wife, with whom he has fathered at least one child, but she sees through his seduction act and her virile, beautiful brother beats up Accatone in an intense erotically-charged scene that seems to simulate sexual assault as much as violence between the men.

After meeting the innocent and beautiful Stella, (Franca Pasut) he is smitten and tries to get a job, so he can support her and his family but he is not accustomed to hardship and has the lack of patience that is typical of spoilt types that have never been trained to work does not make the job last for very long.

Never have I seen a more humane, direct and simple depiction of the tragic life of these undesirables of society. Pasolini is a master painter narrating with a few gestures all their hardship and suffering. Even getting a plate of food in this world is a memorable accomplishment. We see the whole setting as a sideline of modern society's inability to function properly. The 'corrections' by the police seem to be the most unjust of all, and Pasolini presents this panorama of human failing as an allegory of human struggle and spiritual redemption.

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

4 April 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Scrounger

Filming Locations:

Ponte Testaccio, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,248

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arco Film, Cino del Duca

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1