Hawks and Sparrows

Hawks and Sparrows

(Pier Paulo Pasolini, 1966)

Rating: 2/5

Reviewed by Dave Lancaster

Summary: Garish Pasolini film goes downhill after a hilarious opening credits song. Still, 'Hawks and Sparrows' a must for Pasolini diehards via this wonderful print.
 

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'Hawks and Sparrows' starts off with brilliant invention, singing its main title sequence instead of just printing it, with Ennio Morricone's cheeky melodies adding a buoyant lift to the names on screen. After that, the heavy work is passed on to the viewer and it nearly pulls you under.

Caught amid plenty of other guff from the tail-end swinging 60s filmmaking movement, Pasolini's film - while nominated for the Palme D'or - feels horribly of its time; pretentious, haphazard, pompous and too off-kilter to get a hook into.

It's a diversion. The kind of film you watch after Pasolini blows you away with 'The Gospel According to Matthew' and because it's got a great auteur behind the lens you give it more of a chance than it possibly deserves.

Maybe you just need to be in the mood for social satire presented like this (a talking "left wing intellectual" crow befriends two wandering guys and transports them back in time as friars - one old and weary, the other young and hapless - for a aged enlightenment before returning to a grim modern world) . When this reviewer watched Godard's 'Weekend' and listened to Lou Reed's senseless white noise album 'Metal Machine Music' it had the same effect - is this a joke? These are the sorts of classics that only succeed relatively speaking.

Still, it's hard to fault Eureka and their Masters of Cinema label. They've rediscovered another hard to find film by a genuine filmmaking talent, cleaned up the print wonderfully and made it easily available to the fans, many of whom will find the hidden meaning that remained elusive with me. All in all, this one didn't gel with me but nevertheless Pasolini fans are urged to have a look.

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