UCCELLACCI E UCCELLINI

Italy, 1966, 88 minutes, Black and White.
Toto, Ninetto Davoli.
Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini.

Uccellacci e Uccellini (Hawks and Sparrows) is immediately recognisable as a Pasolini film. In stark black and white, using the Italian countryside and the Italian cities for settings, it is a dialogue and tableau film. Italian comedian Toto and star Ninetto Davoli (star of so many of Pasolini's films) play a father and son on a journey - many incidents take place, they tell stories, some of the stories are dramatised, especially a St Francis of Assisi father and son going back into the Middle Ages, looking for birds, trying to understand something of the relationship between humans and nature.

The film was made in the '60s, comparatively early in Pasolini's short cinema career.

1. The work of Pasolini? His cinematic style, dialogue and tableau? The Italian settings? The black and white photography?

2. Toto and the cast? Ninetto Davoli? His place in Pasolini's films? The musical score?

3. The visualising of the journey, the relationship between father and son, their discussions? Going to the bar, the dancing, the son dancing? The clashes? The goals of the journey? The telling of stories, the acting in the stories? The portraits, characters and style?

4. The fantasy of the crow? The character of the crow, the voice of the crow, the telling of the stories, accompanying the pilgrims on the journey?

5. The Franciscan's story, the atmosphere of Mediaeval life, the monastic setting, the spirituality? St Francis? The father and son amongst the friars? The mission to the birds? The hawks and the sparrows? Communication, failure, the attempt to succeed in the mission?

6. The story of the poor, collecting the money, oppression? The various characters, types? The personal touch? City life and exploitation?

7. The moral of the stories? Their effect on the father and son? The particularly Italian style of storytelling?