, narrated and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1966){kind=link}
An almost full moon in a cloudy sky offers a static background to the most dynamic opening credits of The Hawks and the Sparrows (Uccellacci & Uccellini), narrated and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1966. A singing voice introduces each of the movie’s participants in a rime: the score composer Ennio Morricone, “the absurd, the sweet, the human Totò, and the innocent and smart Ninetto Davoli” as leading actors, the producer Alfredo Bini who by endorsing this work “endangered his position and reputation”. This prepares the audience for what is yet to come: a lot! A poetic, surreal, and neorealist at the same time class critique with dramedy undertones. Since the first seconds of the movie, the spectators are drawn into Pasolini’s vision.
Totò and his teenage son Ninetto are walking through Rome’s still rustic and empty suburbs. The two are a strange couple: old-time classics and Western modernity advance next to each other. Totó wears a dark frac-like jacket and sartorial striped pants, a cylinder hat on his head, and an umbrella in his hand. He advances straight and stiffly with a slight pinguinish walk, reminding Charlie Chaplin. Nino wears tight stretchy bell bottom pants. An equally tight turtleneck and a decored bomber jacket. He reminds a Mediterranean James Dean, a rebel without a cause. And this is precisely how he behaves, his curly hair wiggling around while arrogantly skipping around. At some point, the two are joined by a big black crow, with an emilan accent. Characterized as “a leftist intellectual” by the interjection signs, it is likely to be Pasolini’s alter ego, his “animalification”. The crow is smart and chatty. In popular tradition, it is believed to bring bad luck. It voices the community’s concerns and warns people precisely about what they usually don’t want to hear and are trying to oversee. The crow is curious. It wants to know where the father and son are going. And to do what? The crow escorts them on different adventures which unfold as separate shorts. At first, the crow is entertaining and beloved by the two men, then becomes annoying. Especially when, whenever they take advantage of their status, with foresight warns Totò and Ninetto: be careful not to be eaten by a bigger fish!
The Hawks and the Sparrows is so much and so many things at once that it is hard to define. It is a road movie, a parabole of class struggle, and to some extent an invitation, a hope for social unity. Pasolini seems to suggest that this unity, is both natural and political at the same time. In the extended part where Nino and Totò become Franciscan monks trying to convert birds, it advocates for communication and harmony among living beings but demonstrates that it is impossible to achieve it in the end. In the second part, the funeral of Palmiro Togliatti, the Italian communist party leader, is the second clear-cut interlude. It symbolizes how even the political project of a more equal coexistence has come to an end. The visually impressive scenes, reminding a similar one of the Soviet production Yo Soy Cuba by Michail Kalatosow (1964), symbolize the death of Marxism, something Pasolini is still trying to grapple with. The crow argues that Togliatti’s death is his own, and therefore in a certain sense, that of Pasolini, or at least of his ideals. Pasolini himself described this subject as extremely complex, probably the most difficult and ambitious of his career.
The Hawks and the Sparrows is considered Pier Paolo Pasolini’s signature work. It was presented at the 19th Cannes Film Festival in competition, where Totò received a special mention. He also won the prize for best performer at the Golden Globes that year. The iconic Italian comedian would die a year later, turning this into his last movie. However, Totò’s sweet sour performance is not the only characteristic encapsulating Pasolini’s vision. Ennio Morricone’s music, the neorealist scenes, and sculpturing photography, Togliatti’s funeral’s original footage contribute to making The Hawks and the Sparrows a piece of art by one of the most controversial intellectuals Italy has ever had. This movie is not a commodity, and therefore so difficult to just consume and simply judge.
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