Accatone

Starring:Franco Citti, Franca Pasut, Silvana Corsini, Paola Guidi, Adriana Asti, Luciano Conti, Luciano Gonini, Renato Capogna, Alfredo Leggi, Galeazzo Riccardi, Leonardo Muraglia, Giuseppe Ristagno, Roberto Giovannoni, Mario Cipriani, Roberto Scaringella, Silvio Citti, Giovanni Orgitano, Piero Morgia, Umberto Bevilacqua, Franco Bevilacqua
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Studio: Water Bearer Films, Inc
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

horrible and grotesque, but interesting in film history
poor transfer - terrible subtitles - but a great film
Another strikeout from Waterbearer
Study of subproletariat lifestyle --- possible spoilers.
A start--- possible spoilers

Accatone
Starring: Franco Citti , Franca Pasut , Silvana Corsini , Paola Guidi , and Adriana Asti
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Manufacturer: Water Bearer Films, Inc
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

The Hawks and the Sparrows (Uccellacci e Uccellini)
Bicycle Thieves (Criterion Collection)
Porcile
Mamma Roma - Criterion Collection
The Gospel According to St. Matthew

ASIN: B00009Y3PM
Release Date: 2003-07-22

Customer Reviews:

horrible and grotesque, but interesting in film history.......2005-01-23

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.

poor transfer - terrible subtitles - but a great film.......2004-09-27

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).

Another strikeout from Waterbearer.......2003-08-06

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.

Study of subproletariat lifestyle --- possible spoilers........2002-04-01

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.

A start--- possible spoilers.......2002-03-29

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.

Pier Paolo Pasolini Collection, Vol. 2 (Accatone / The Hawks and the Sparrows / The Gospel According to Saint Matthew)

Average customer rating:

Yet more misfires from Waterbearer
1 masterpiece, 1 exceptional film & 1 controversial fable

Pier Paolo Pasolini Collection, Vol. 2 (Accatone / The Hawks and the Sparrows / The Gospel According to Saint Matthew)
Starring: Franco Citti , Franca Pasut , Silvana Corsini , Paola Guidi , and Adriana Asti
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Manufacturer: Water Bearer Films, Inc
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Art House & International | Independently Distributed | Stores | DVD | Video

Drama | Independently Distributed | Stores | DVD | Video

Art House & International | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

Boxed Sets | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

Independently Distributed | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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Pier Paolo Pasolini Collection, Vol. 1 (Oedipus Rex / Porcile / Love Meetings)
Teorema
Mamma Roma - Criterion Collection
The Conformist (Extended Edition)
The Decameron

ASIN: B00009Y3PG
Release Date: 2003-07-22

Customer Reviews:

Yet more misfires from Waterbearer.......2004-02-02

Unfortunately, Waterbearer didn't correct any of the problems that plagued their first set of Pasolini DVD's: the transfers are all sub-par, with burned-in subtitles (that are sometimes very wrong: did you know that one of the ten commandments is "thou shalt not steel"?) and no chapter stops. The discs are overpriced, especially considering that, despite what it says on the back of the case, none of the discs appear to have undergone any restoration whatsoever.

Pasolini was a master filmmaker, and it's a shame that only one of his films (The Decameron) has a quality Region 1 release. The others (the six released by Waterbearer and Vanguard's release of Medea) are poor transfers that simply don't do justice to this great man's life work.

For now, however, Pasolini fans stuck in Region 1 (I understand superior editions of most of his films exist in Region 2) are limited to these sub-par releases. If you're a Pasolini fan, I'd advise you to buy the discs used, because what Waterbearer's asking for these discs is ridiculous.

1 masterpiece, 1 exceptional film & 1 controversial fable.......2003-11-30

This three-film box set includes Pasolini's exceptional debut film (ACCATTONE), his first masterpiece - one of the greatest films I have seen (THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW), plus his controversial political fable (THE HAWKS AND THE SPARROWS). I have written about these DVDs individually elsewhere at Amazon.com. Each disc includes the same half-hour 1970 documentary on Pasolini, but no other features. The Pasolini Foundation in Rome, which controls all rights to these films, supplied the prints: good quality for ACCATTONE and HAWKS but not for THE GOSPEL (my Amazon review offers a suggestion on how to adjust your TV to make it look better). The Pasolini Foundation also had the U.S. distributor release the DVDs without any chapters (i.e., in one continuous track), to encourage people to watch each picture in its entirety. Despite those limitations, all these films are very much worth seeing.

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