Accattone

Rating:
Summary: A start--- possible spoilers
Review: Accatone is an interesting film because Pasolini exposes to his audience a particular lifestyle and social class which would not be accurately touched on in an American picture. If Hollywood had ever discussed Accatone's subject matter they would display it with all its stereotypical adornments and falsities which most US moviegoers are accustomed to. Pasolini is not afraid to present the grittier side of the subproletariat as is epitomized in the film's main character, Accatone, who struggles with his profession of pimping and becoming more sensitive to his women and to the world. Pasolini's debut is delicately permeated with political concepts and allegories, yet we can see that he is experimenting newly with the technique of film and developing a filmic narrative structure; more of his full-fledged sociopolitical allegories would be pursued in films like The Gospel and Hawks and Sparrows. The film stars Franco Citti who at the time of making of the film was a nonprofessional. However his performance is substantial considering him being a novice and having his voice overdubbed by another actor. Citti would soon become a Pasolini regular, starring in Oedipus Rex, Arabian Nights, and other supporting roles. However, as the film progresses the attention is centered on the female lead, who plays the naive soon-to-be callous farm worker who is duped by Accatone into prostitution. Before Pasolini ventured into the cinema he had a knack for writing. In his first two novels Pasolini had utilized the language of his mother's homeland, Friuli, for colloquial discourse amongst his characters who lived in subproletariat communities. It is not surprising that the subject of these novels would be the focal point of Accatone. In addition I believe Pasolini had rendered his ideas (from his literature) appropriately for his film, yet not becoming to carried away with fidelity and technical aspects which are profuse in films today. To this day there are apparently no film directors as consciously aware of his country and goverment as Pasolini was and that would transcend these beliefs into his art with controversy yet at the same time subtlety.

Rating:
Summary: Study of subproletariat lifestyle --- possible spoilers.
Review: Accotone is an interesting film because Pasolini exposes to his audience a particular lifestyle and social class which would not be accurately touched on in an American picture. If Hollywood had ever discussed Accotone's subject matter they would display it with all its stereotypical adornments and falsities which most US moviegoers are accustomed to. Pasolini is not afraid to present the grittier side of the subproletariat as is epitomized in the film's main character, Accotone, who struggles with his profession of pimping and becoming more sensitive to his women and to the world. Pasolini's debut is delicately permeated with political concepts and allegories, yet we can see that he is experimenting newly with the technique of film and developing a filmic narrative structure; more of his full-fledged sociopolitical allegories would be pursued in films like The Gospel and Hawks and Sparrows. The film stars Franco Citti who at the time of making of the film was a nonprofessional. However his performance is substantial considering him being a novice and having his voice overdubbed by another actor. Citti would soon become a Pasolini regular, starring in Oedipus Rex, Arabian Nights, and other supporting roles. However, as the film progresses the attention is centered on the female lead, who plays the naive soon-to-be callous farm worker who is duped by Accatone into prostitution. Before Pasolini ventured into the cinema he had a knack for writing. In his first two novels Pasolini had utilized the language of his mother's homeland, Friuli, for colloquial discourse amongst his characters who lived in subproletariat communities. It is not surprising that the subject of these novels would be the focal point of Accatone. In addition I believe Pasolini had rendered his ideas (from his literature) appropriately for his film, yet not becoming to carried away with fidelity and technical aspects which are profuse in films today. Accotone is worth a look for film buffs and people who appreciate arthouse related pictures.

Rating:
Summary: Great Film, Nearly Invisible Subtitles
Review: Buy the other edition. How many times do they need to use white subtitles in black-and-white films?!

Sometimes it is virtually impossible to read the subtitles during te film with this edition.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great movie, but black-and-white films should have yellow subtitles.

Or at least put black bars behind the subtitles so they can be read!

Rating:
Summary: Great Film, Nearly Invisible Subtitles
Review: Buy the other edition. How many times do they need to use white subtitles in black-and-white films?!

Sometimes it is virtually impossible to read the subtitles during the film with this edition.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great movie, but black-and-white films should have yellow subtitles.

Or at least put black bars behind the subtitles so they can be read!

Rating:
Summary: Great film- shamlessly bad print
Review: International Film Forum presents a print of this film that couldn't have been much worse if they had pulled an abused 16mm print from the garbage. Visuals: Blacks are washed out, midtones are coarse, visual noise and scars abound. Sound: there is distortion on all significant sounds- this had been used so much that the sound is uniformly damaged. This is simply one of the most worn-out set of reels I've ever seen, in cinema or on video. Even the picture on the box looks dreeadful and has a moire pattern. Bottom line: Avoid- this version is no competition for the entirely servicable earlier release by other parties (though I forget who did it- not Film Forum).

Rating:
Summary: horrible and grotesque, but interesting in film history
Review: Now here is a slice of poverty and corruption, in the hands of a filmmaker who would go on to create a series of classics of the grotesque. Accattone is utterly worthless, unattractive, and doomed, a destroyer who continually finds willing victims. You cannot enjoy watching this, but you've got to admit it was original at the time.

Rating:
Summary: Another strikeout from Waterbearer
Review: The other reviews have covered the film sufficiently, so I'll just focus on this new DVD edition (although I will say that it seemed to be a bit of a re-hash of "Nights of Cabiria" without any of the pathos).

Actually, calling it "new" is a bit of a misnomer, as it appears to be a transfer from an old videotape. This is strongly evident near the end of the film where there are two instances of scrolling video distortion.

I really wanted to like this disc. The transfer itself is actually fairly clear (although slightly muted and/or washed-out) and mostly free of specks and dirt (except at the end of each reel). Unfortunately, as with the previous three Waterbearer Pasolini DVD's, this one suffers from no chapter stops and burned-in (non-optional), frequently-unreadable subtitles. At the price Waterbearer is charging, the consumer is going to expect a great deal more than they're getting.

Rent it if you're curious, but I'd advise against purchasing this disc unless you're a die-hard Pasolini fan.

Rating:
Summary: Another strikeout from Waterbearer
Review: The other reviews have covered the film sufficiently, so I'll just focus on this new DVD edition (although I will say that it seemed to be a bit of a re-hash of "Nights of Cabiria" without any of the pathos).

Actually, calling it "new" is a bit of a misnomer, as it appears to be a transfer from an old videotape. This is strongly evident near the end of the film where there are two instances of scrolling video distortion.

I really wanted to like this disc. The transfer itself is actually fairly clear (although slightly muted and/or washed-out) and mostly free of specks and dirt (except at the end of each reel). Unfortunately, as with the previous three Waterbearer Pasolini DVD's, this one suffers from no chapter stops and burned-in (non-optional), frequently-unreadable subtitles. At the price Waterbearer is charging, the consumer is going to expect a great deal more than they're getting.

Rent it if you're curious, but I'd advise against purchasing this disc unless you're a die-hard Pasolini fan.

Rating:
Summary: poor transfer - terrible subtitles - but a great film
Review: This is all that's available folks so suffer through the defects and watch a timeless gem of a film. Pasolini's movie is one of the most honest portraits of slum life in Italy - and in fact is more brutally honest than 'nights of cabira' by Fellini (Pasolini actually was responsible for some of the dialogue in that film).