Rocco e i suoi fratelli (1960)
Directed by Luchino Visconti

Film Review

In Rocco and His Brothers, Luchino Visconti brilliantly succeeds in marrying the two styles which best define his cinematic form: the grim neorealism of her earliest works and the grand operatic vision of his subsequent film melodramas.  Whilst the scale of the film, with its great set pieces, perhaps robs it of the poignancy and intimacy that one finds in the films of Visconti's contemporaries (notably Rossellini and De Sica), its masterful direction, magnificently orchestrated performances and achingly poetic photography makes it a masterpiece by almost any other criterion.

The film not only speaks volumes for its director's intensely held preoccupation with the poor and the working classes, through the authenticity of the Parondi family, but also reaffirms his standing as a man with a boundless creative flair and daring.   This is illustrated by the film's two most notorious scenes: the rape and subsequent murder of Nadia.  Although the two scenes are filmed in a very stylised way, they still have the power to shock, and not just because of the naked brutality we see.  What makes these scenes so traumatic is the impact we anticipate they will have on the relationship between the brothers.  Like an irreplaceable vase knocked from a high shelf, we await the inevitable smash with an agonising sense of dread and helplessness.

The film features French actor Alain Delon in the role which catapulted him from comparative obscurity to international celebrity (even if he was dubbed by an Italian actor).  With Visconti's support, Delon became one of the most popular and best-paid actors in Europe at the time, and it must be said that it is in Visconti's films that Delon gives probably his best screen performances.   Cast alongside Alain Delon in Rocco and His Brothers is Renato Salvatori, whose intense, disturbing portrayal of the "son who goes wrong" gives the film its tortured humanity and harrowing tragic dimension.   French actress Annie Girardot is sublime as the femme fatale Nadia whilst Katina Paxinou turns in a large-than-life performance of the stereotypical Italian mother.

Rocco and His Brothers is a sprawling work which attempts to follow an episodic format (one section for each of the five brothers), but in a rather half-hearted manner.  Despite this, and its gruelling three-hour runtime, the film is an absorbing work which has little difficulty holding our attention, and each of the main characters are so lovingly drawn that you end up feeling something for each of them.

The film's central theme is how the brothers develop after their arrival in Milan.  Although they came from the same womb and were brought up together, the five brothers are destined to turn out differently - it is just a question of probability.  It is as likely that one should turn out like Rocco, a selfless idealist, as another should end up like Simone, a cynical self-centred thug.   In its portrayal of the best and worst in human nature, Rocco and His Brothers is both cruel and honest.  The corruption of a good man by impulses he cannot control is made all the more poignant when set aside the kindness of the younger brother who is prepared to do anything to save him, particularly when it is so obvious that he will fail.

Film Synopsis

After the death of her husband, Rosaria Parondi makes up her mind to leave her home in the poverty-stricken south of Italy and move to Milan in the north with her four sons.  In the short term, Rosaria plans to stay with her eldest son Vincenzo, who has already settled in the town and is about to get married to Ginetta.  The family's arrival is not to the liking of Vincenzo's prospective in-laws, who look down on them as mere peasants.  The Parondis soon find a place to live, on an estate for low-income families, and set about looking for work.  Whilst Ciro studies for a diploma which will allow him to get a well-paid job in a car factory, Rocco finds temporary work in a dry-cleaning shop and Luca contents himself with any odd job that comes his way.  Meanwhile, Simone, the most ambitious and fanciful of the brothers, trains to become a professional boxer.

Things are at last beginning to look up for the Parondis, but the family unity is threatened when Rocco returns after completing his military service and starts to take an interest in Nadia, a former prostitute who has already rejected Simone's amorous intentions.  Rocco's inherent goodness strikes a chord with Nadia, and she reciprocates his feelings for her.  This so antagonises Simone that, in a wild fit of jealousy, he attacks both of them and rapes the girl in front of his brother's eyes.  Realising how much he has hurt his brother, Rocco decides to surrender Nadia to him.  As his dreams of becoming a boxer prove increasing illusory, Simone sinks deeper into depression and alcoholism.  The last straw comes when he learns that Nadia has resumed working as a prostitute...