Accattone (Pasolini, 1961)
½
Story of the life of Italian petty criminals and working poor ca. 1960.
At it's best when Franco Citti is portraying Accattone at his sneering, lazy, sarcastic worst. Some of the banter between Accattone and his low-life friends was pretty entertaining. Accattone's attempt at going straight (working) was pretty funny, too. The score - orchestral music by JS Bach - was great, interesting choice set against bleak slums and rubble of that society. Also found it interesting that recovering from the war, how much Italy resembled one of today's 3rd world countries.
There's a scene where Citti is arrested and loses patience with the police at the station and he nearly blows a gasket shouting for a couple of minutes, reminded me of
Citti throughout Pasolini's Oedipus Rex, where he shouts up a storm all movie long.
Outside of the dialogue between the low-lifes portrayed in the movie, I found it repetitious at times, both in its script and bleak, slum landscapes. Its low budget didn't help the movie, either.
Don't think I could recommend it to anyone but a film buff, a marginal thumbs up from me.
Pasolini seen/ranked
1. The Gospel According to St. Matthew
2. Oedipus Rex
3. Accattone
4. Salo