On a hot summer day, an old man (Italian comic Totò) and one of his eighteen children (Ninetto Davoli, TEOREMA) take to the road on foot. They meet a "left-wing intellectual" raven (voiced by Francesco Leonetti, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW) who attempts to enlighten the pair about their position in the class structure: exploiting those beneath them (like the tenants on their land who have given them all of their belongings for lack of payment) and being exploited by those above them (like the "engineer" who threatens to jail them when their own hardships leave them unable to pay their debts). During a lengthy flashback, Toto and Davoli become monks Brother Ciccillo and Brother Ninetto charged by Saint Francis with the task of preaching to the two rival "classes" of birds: the arrogant hawks and the humble sparrows.

HAWKS AND SPARROWS is definitely a Pasolini film, rather than a Toto film; and the humor comes from both Toto's antics as well as the dialogue and the raven's commentary. Davoli role is much more substantial here than his clown/messenger roles in Pasolini's next few films. Ennio Morricone's humorous score (conducted as usual by Bruno Nicolai) seems equally influenced by sixties pop as it does his own spaghetti western work (he had already composed scores for nine films in this genre by 1966 including Sergio Leone's trilogy), and the film's opening credits are "sung" by Grammy-winning Domenico Modugno (Toto himself sings the song "Carme, Carme" later in the film). Italian sexploitation star Femi Benussi (THE BLOODSUCKER LEADS THE DANCE) has a brief but prominent role as prostitute Luna who Toto and Davoli meet on the side of a road. Alfredo Bini had produced most of Pasolini's early output and their collaboration would end with Pasolini's next film OEDIPUS REX (the first of his Mythical Cycle quartet).