The Hawks and the Sparrows
| The Hawks and the Sparrows (Uccellacci e uccellini) |
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theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Pier Paolo Pasolini |
| Produced by | Alfredo Bini |
| Written by | Pier Paolo Pasolini |
| Starring |
Totò Ninetto Davoli Femi Benussi |
| Music by | Ennio Morricone |
| Cinematography |
Mario Bernardo Tonino Delli Colli |
| Edited by | Nino Baragli |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | CIDIF |
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Release date
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Running time
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88 minutes |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | Italian |
The Hawks and the Sparrows (Italian: Uccellacci e uccellini, literally "Ugly Birds and Little Birds") is a 1966 Italian film directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. It was entered into the 1966 Cannes Film Festival where a "Special Mention" was made of Totò, for his acting performance.
The film can be described as neorealist, and deals with Marxist concerns about poverty and class-conflict. It features the popular Italian comic-actor Totò accompanied on a journey by his son (played by Ninetto Davoli).
Totò and his son Ninetto roam the neighbourhood and the countryside of Rome. During the walk they observe a body being removed from a house following a murder. They next encounter a talking crow, who is described in the intertitles thus: "For the benefit of those who were not paying attention or are in doubt, we remind you that the Crow is – as you say – a left-wing intellectual of the kind found living before Palmiro Togliatti's death").
The Crow subsequently recounts the tale of "Fra Ciccillo" and "Fra Ninetto" (still played by Totò and Ninetto), two Franciscan friars, who are bid by St. Francis to preach the Gospel to the hawks and the sparrows. After many months, they succeeded in preaching the commandment of love unto the species separately, but are not able to get them to love each other. The sparrow-hawks continue to kill and eat the sparrows, as it is in their nature.
After the tale, the journey of Totò and Ninetto carries on, the Crow still accompanying them. They encounter other individuals: land-owners who order them out off their land when they are caught defecating; a family living in absolute poverty with no food and who Totò threatens to drive out of the house if the rent is not paid; a group of travelling actors (representing figures marginalised from society such as women, those that are gay, the elderly, racial minorities, and the disabled) and who persuade the pair to push the group's Cadillac car for them; and a rich man who is waiting for Totò to give him the money he owes him (in contrast to the earlier episode where Toto had demanded rent). After that, a brief extract of news footage of the funeral of Palmiro Togliatti, the long-time leader of the Italian Communist Party. Then, after having met a prostitute, they end up killing and eating the Crow, whom they found to be unconscionably boring.
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Wikipedia