Accattone (1961)

In a seedy section of Rome, Vittorio Cataldi - "Accattone" ("beggar" in Italian) to those that know him - lives off the avails of prostitution, Maddalena being his one and only girl. He is married to Ascenza with who he has one young son named Iaio, but he does not live with them - they who live with her father and brother - provide for them, or play any important part of their lives. He generally hangs out with his similarly slack life friends playing cards and drinking. His source of income is threatened when Maddalena is injured being hit by a motorcyclist, then beaten by rivals of his, which leads to her being arrested and jailed for a year. Largely because of Iaio, Accattone contemplates going straight and getting a real job. Then he meets Stella, a young innocent woman who has had a hard life, but who is not as naive to the ways of the world as she first appears. Accattone falls in love with her, but as the thought of working a steady job now becomes abhorrent, contemplates pimping for Stella. As Accattone and Stella's relationship progresses, Accattone's past may come back to haunt him.

Keywords: abandoned-by-father, acolyte, arrest, avant-garde, bar, beating, beggar, begging, bet, bicycle

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Quotes:

Margheritona: Leave me alone, I won't go to the police station. I do as I please.

Margheritona: There's no loving in this world now.

Amore: Be like me, don't love anyone, so I'm called Amore.

Mario: Do you like Neopolitans? We're something special.

Margheritona: Now what? Nothing doing? Are you leaving me like this?::Amore's client: Anyone who mucks me about has had it.

Scucchia: Not dead yet? I heard that work kills people.::Salvatore: Its an honest death.

Scucchia: Sleep at night instead of playing cards - you look like refugees from the morgue.

Vittorio "Accattone" Cataldi: Were you there when he made the bet with German and Crazy People. Did he say he'd eat a kilo of potatoes and a whole cheese then swim and nothing would happen?

Vittorio "Accattone" Cataldi: So he didn't die of indigestion, he died of exhaustion.

Franco: Don't you know you can't swim after a meal, you die. The change from hot to cold stops your digestion.::Vittorio "Accattone" Cataldi: I've lost all my money but I've still got a ring to bet. Scared to bet?::Franco: I'll take you on, I want to kill you off.

'Accattone!' is featured as a movie character in the following productions: