A pimp with no other means to provide for himself finds his life spiralling out of control when his prostitute is sent to prison.
Direction
Pasolini's first film — already a poet filming non-actors from the streets.
Score
Bach cantatas over Roman slums shouldn't work. Devastatingly does.
Cinematography
Grimy black-and-white that finds transcendence in garbage.
Director
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Franco Citti was a real Roman street kid Pasolini found; he had never acted before and never formally studied.
Pasolini shot in the actual borgate slums he wrote about as a poet — locations Mussolini built to hide poverty from tourists.
IT
