The Hawks and the Sparrows

An Italian road film. A father and son walk along the side of a road. Where they are going is unclear; they walk, they talk, they look for food. On the way a crow joins them. The crow talks, and keeps talking: politics, history, class, ideology. It presents itself as the representative of a tradition of thought and tells the two of them a story. The story is set in the middle ages. The same two actors are monks; their task is to preach to the birds and make peace between them. They work at it for years, learn the language of birds, and in the end believe they have succeeded. Then we return to the present and the walk continues. What the film is interested in is one question: does theory change life, or does it only talk to itself. The crow keeps saying correct things, and the two men are hungry. The narrative gives an answer, and the answer is hard; it will not be written here. The shape sits between a fable and a political satire. There are songs between sections, and even the opening credits are sung. Totò plays the father; he was the best-known face in Italian comedy and Pasolini uses him outside his usual mould. Ninetto Davoli plays the son. Pier Paolo Pasolini wrote and directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes political allegory, Pasolini, and films of strange shape. Who it is not for: anyone looking for a straight narrative; the film keeps changing genre and some sections turn into argument outright.