Accatone

Pier Paolo Pasolini was strongly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, one of the greatest influences of post-World War II Italian cinema. Gramsci's analysis of Italian history and particularly of the Risorgimento as a "passive"or failed revolution, led him to place a large emphasis on the importance of education. Since intellect was often associated with the upper-class this highlighted 'subaltern' groups in the middle and lower class who had their own intellect to share. As Landy explains, "they have their own sense of the world, of what is wrong and what is needful for survival," a concept closely related to the Italian folklore that "dramatizes age-old customs" and is "conducive to survival of the tragic obstacles the characters encounter in a world hostile to their interests." Thus, Accatone is a study of a subaltern community, where morality is not concrete, common sense is key, and the characters are caught between the hope of a better future, and the emptiness of the present.

During the 1950s, there was a strong push towards 'pink neorealism,' which Viano describes as "the attempt of some producers to turn Cinecittà into Europe's Hollywood." Then in the 1960s, a few young Italian producers encouraged a movement back to neorealism. They saw this as a way to increase Italy's cultural legitimacy. This led to the 'cinema d'autore,' with the low-budget films, like Accatone, that were part of Italy's very own 'nouvelle vague.' Pasolini was known for having a "passion for reality,"that also became the driving force behind his film theory and practice. Though his films took on many aspects of neorealism, it can be argued that Pasolini was not in fact a neorealist, but rather he brought a "certain realism" to the screen.

In postwar Italy, during the neorealist period, there was a strong sense that "good and evil were very distinct things." Pasolini and other directors came after, when good and evil were no longer easy to distinguish. Subsequently, Pasolini's early films Accatone and Mamma Roma, depict morally compromised characters on a long, painstaking, and tragic journey, with little hope for success or conflict resolution. The protagonist, Vittorio a.k.a Accatone, develops greatly as a character, though none of the issues are resolved. He goes from being a pimp living comfortably, to selling his prized possessions and manipulating a naive young woman, to trying to become part of the workforce, and slipping back into the life of a thief. In a world where everything is wrong, there can be no right ending, and so Accatone's untimely death is not a sad occasion (it has been foreshadowed since the opening scene) but rather it is an escape from the daily battle of good versus evil, and we are provided with a sense of relief that everything is finally at rest.