Cinema Dérive - ACCATTONE 1961

Franco Citti, Franca Pasut, Silvana Corsini, Paola Guidi

19:30 - 22:00 hrs

€ 3

Doors Open: 19.30
Film start: 20.00

ACCATTONE 1961
Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
119 minutes
In Italian with English subtitles
This is the first feature film that the great Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini directed, after years of working as a script-writer for other film directors such as Fellini. Right off the bat, from his very first film, it's clear whose side Pasolini is on. This is a film set in the slums on the outskirts of Rome, and the film follows the life of Accattone (Franco Citti), a pimp living in the wreckage of post-war Italy. After a certain point Accattone can no longer lie to himself - it's undeniable that his survival is based on the exploitation of his girlfriend, the woman he is pimping. Despite the fact that Accattone is far from a normal hero, Pasolini approaches the character with empathy, especially since his situation is hopeless... but it's clear in the film that this is not an existential hopelessness, but one based on a social reality.
Ultimately it's a film about catharsis and redemption in a cruel world. As the film unfolds, the cinematography shimmers in an almost documentary-like way, and the fact that most of the cast was made of non-professionals, taken off the streets of 60s Rome, gives the film a sharp edge. With a film like this we get back in touch with a grounded humanity that we have lost, which has nothing to do with cheap sentimentality. The music of Bach on the soundtrack deeply foils the poverty-stricken ghetto environment, creating an almost spiritual crescendo.

Pasolini was one of those rare souls whose art and personal life went together, without hypocrisy. He fought for what he believed in with an unusual sense of intelligence, physicality, and spirituality. In fact, in the end, he fought so sincerely that he would be murdered on a beach outside Rome. He was a left-winger, he was queer, and he was a poet in the highest order. If you have never seen any of his films, this is a great place to start – at the beginning.

A wonderful, roughly cut gem.