Accattone
A desperate Roman pimp drifts between love, exploitation, and the impossible promise of honest work.
Overview
In the gritty underbelly of Rome, a man grapples with love and desperation.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- bleak
- austere
- melancholic
- arthouse cinema night
- italian cinema retrospective
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Pasolini's debut as a powerful, uncompromising portrait of Roman marginality and social deprivation.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film depicts Rome's shanty-town outskirts and the precarious lives of pimps, prostitutes, and unemployed youths.
Accattone considers honest work and family responsibility but remains drawn to exploitation and idleness.
The sordid world of prostitution, drinking, and petty crime is rendered with solemn compositions and religiously charged musical grandeur.
Accattone's attraction to Stella is inseparable from his temptation to turn her into a new source of income.
Films like Accattone, and why
Mamma Roma
shared italian neorealist attention to poverty, marginal lives, and morally compromised protagonists
Bicycle Thieves
shared stark social realism, urban deprivation, and intimate focus on outsiders
The 400 Blows
shared bleak working-class milieu, tragic moral drift, and unsentimental realism
Movie Details
- Director
- Pier Paolo Pasolini
- Release Date
- 1961-09-25
- Runtime
- 117 min
- Rating
- 7.7 / 10 (529)
Cast
- Franco Citti
- Franca Pasut
- Silvana Corsini
- Paola Guidi
- Adriana Asti
- Luciano Conti
- Luciano Gonini
- Renato Capogna
- Alfredo Leggi
- Galeazzo Riccardi
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Criterion Channel
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Accattone about?
- A desperate Roman pimp drifts between love, exploitation, and the impossible promise of honest work.
- What is Accattone like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Accattone as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Accattone violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Accattone as moderate.
- What did critics think of Accattone?
- Critics broadly regard Pasolini's debut as a powerful, uncompromising portrait of Roman marginality and social deprivation.
- Which films are like Accattone?
- Films with a similar feel include Mamma Roma, Bicycle Thieves, and The 400 Blows.
- How long is Accattone?
- Accattone runs 117 minutes.
- Where can I watch Accattone?
- In United States, Accattone streams on Criterion Channel.
