Accattone (1961)

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writers:

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

Release Date:

4 April 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Pasolini's first film is a painfully realistic study of a pimp in Rome. Vittorio Accattone has never worked a day in his life...

Plot Keywords:

Male Female Relationship | Mother As Prostitute | Begging | Crossing Self | Interrogation

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

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

Also Known As:

Accattone! (USA)
The Procurer (UK)
The Scrounger (USA) (informal English title)

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:13 | Finland:K-16 | UK:15 | Argentina:16 | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Pigneto, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Arco Film

Trivia:

This was Bernardo Bertolucci's first work in movies. He was an assistant director.

Quotes:

Maddalena: Sing somewhere else - don't spew your booze up here!

Movie Connections:

Edited into Bellissimo: Immagini del cinema italiano (1985)

The way of living in Rome of the 50s

If you see this film you will agree with me that Rome of 50s was equal to any other developing country, with the same miseries, hunger and needs of any least developed nation in the world. Prostitution and unemployment were characteristics in Rome of those days. Accatone is a young lazy guy, living of what he can earn in a day but not working, i.e. stealing anything he finds and using illegally nice ladies as prostitutes. One day he decided to start working, but it was too hard for him, so he came back doing the same as in the past, stealing and smuggling anywhere. The film is spoken in Romanacio dialect, so I suspect that even for some Italians in the North this film has to be dubbed to the Italian (Toscana dialect) language, otherwise they would not understand it properly. It is also a possibility to see poor parts of the city and new built areas. The river Tevere was not as polluted as it is now because the Romans used to swim in it.