The Hawks and the Sparrows
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Toto
Ninetto Davoli
Femi Benussi
Rossana Di Rocco
Lena Lin Solaro
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
While strolling down the highway of life, a man and his son encounter a talking crow who asks them where they are going and what they are doing. When they are unable to answer, the crow launches into a philosophical discourse on conflicting social and political ideologies. As the loquacious bird prattles on, the man and his son become a monk and a young friar in the year 1200. They are met by St. Francis of Assisi who asks them to decipher the language of the birds so that they can bring them God's message of love. Although the old man succeeds in talking to and apparently converting the birds, he is disheartened when a hawk swoops down and devours a sparrow. Disillusioned, he reports to St. Francis and is told--in the words of Pope Paul VI at the United Nations--that they must teach all living things to love not only their own kind but all others as well. Returning to the present, the pair continue their journey. They trespass on private land to perform an urgent personal need and become involved in a battle with the landowner; they enact the roles of both oppressor and oppressed when they threaten a starving family with eviction and then in turn are confronted by a man demanding payment of a debt; they each fulfill another need by enjoying the favors of a roadside beauty; they witness the birth of a child and also attend the funeral of Palmiro Togliatti, head of the Italian Communist Party until his death in 1963. As the persistent crow continues to elaborate on his dialectic homilies, another need arises--hunger. Winking at each other, the man and his son grab the crow and make a meal of their would-be teacher. And, as they continue down the road of life, the question posed by the crow, "Where are you going?" remains unanswered.
Director
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Cast
Toto
Ninetto Davoli
Femi Benussi
Rossana Di Rocco
Lena Lin Solaro
Rosina Moroni
Renato Capogna
Pietro Davoli
Gabriele Baldini
Riccardo Redi
Francesco Leonetti
Umberto Bevilacqua
Alfredo Leggi
Renato Montalbano
Flaminia Siciliano
Giovanni Tarallo
Vittorio Vittori
Cesare Gelli
Vittorio La Paglia
Mario Pennisi
Fides Stagni
Crew
Gideon Bachmann
Nino Baragli
Mario Bernardo
Alfredo Bini
Vittorio Biseo
Armando Bondani
Adriana Cassini
Amedo Cassola
Divo Cavicchioli
Adriano Ceccotti
Piero Cicoletti
Sergio Citti
Tonino Delli Colli
Franco Di Giacomo
Danilo Donati
Piero Farani
Dante Ferretti
Fernando Franchi
Rossana Maiuri
Carlo Morandi
Ennio Morricone
Enzo Ocone
Antonio Orlandini
Pietro Ortolani
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pompei
Angelo Rancati
Alberto Ridolfi
Ditta Rocchetti
Emilio Rosa
Domenico Rossi
Mariano Sargenti
Luigi Scaccianoce
Gilberto Scarpellini
Pino Serpe
Vincenzo Taito
Gaetano Valle
Herman G. Weinberg
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
On February, 14th, 1988 Laura Betti introduced a reconstructed version of the film (99 min) at the `Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin'. This version contains a short episode with Toto called "Toto al circo", which was not included in the original release. Although director Pier Paolo Pasolini reported about his work on it, this episode had never been shown to the public before.
Notes
Filmed on location in Tuscania, near Fiumicino, and other locations around Rome. Opened in Rome in May 1966 as Uccellacci e uccellini; running time: 100 min.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1966
Released in United States August 1966
Released in United States September 16, 1966
Released in United States April 9, 1990
Released in United States August 18, 1990
Released in United States 1991
Shown at Montreal World Film Festival August 1966.
Shown at New York Film Festival September 16, 1966.
Shown at "Pier Paolo Pasolini: The Eyes of a Poet" at Museum of Modern Art in New York City April 9, 1990.
Shown at Lincoln Center, New York City in the series "A Roman Holiday" August 18, 1990.
Shown at "Pier Paolo Pasolini: The Eyes of a Poet" at UCLA Film and Television Archive September 27 - December 20, 1991.
Released in United States 1966
Released in United States August 18, 1990 (Shown at Lincoln Center, New York City in the series "A Roman Holiday" August 18, 1990.)
Released in United States 1991 (Shown at "Pier Paolo Pasolini: The Eyes of a Poet" at UCLA Film and Television Archive September 27 - December 20, 1991.)
Released in United States August 1966 (Shown at Montreal World Film Festival August 1966.)
Released in United States September 16, 1966 (Shown at New York Film Festival September 16, 1966.)
Released in United States April 9, 1990 (Shown at "Pier Paolo Pasolini: The Eyes of a Poet" at Museum of Modern Art in New York City April 9, 1990.)
Re-released in Paris February 14, 1990.
