Rocco and His Brothers (1960) User Reviews (65)

What a humanity of living! What a complexity of humans!

[marcin_kukuczka · 9/10 · 6 July 2008]

It is quite widespread to evaluate a movie after forty or more years in terms of time test. In many cases, we may claim that some movies are like wine: the older they are, the better they occur to be. Yet, not many movies are great in the intensity of being captivating on multiple levels. This can be said about ROCCO E I SUOI FRATELLI by Count Visconti, a film considered not only by its director to be his best one but still appreciated by lots of viewers worldwide. Let me consider some of its strongest points that I noticed while seeing the film.

The most important thing that drew my attention in ROCCO E I SUOI FRATELLI was the wide range of life situations, themes and feelings which one can enumerate endlessly. The viewer is truly given an insight into profound development of charming affection, bitter humiliation, outrageous mockery, sweet desire, wretched rivalry, Utopian idealism, cruel vengeance, sad disappointment, intense sorrow, indefatigable disillusion, upsetting despair directing themselves towards final hope. By analyzing the content and trying to identify with the characters (note that it is not "observing" the characters but "identifying" with them like in classic Greek tragedies), the viewers dive into life situations which, at the same time, can be present in their own experiences: family ties, unemployment, social status, honor, social pressure, plotting, crimes...are they not all up to date now as they were in 1960? But this aspect cannot be separated from the characters.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS. Rocco (Alain Delon) is an idealist, a very good person but too noble to succeed in this world. He appears to be a sort of biblical king David whose pardoning and love lead him to omit the teaching example and forget those who really care for him. His brother Ciro (Max Cartier), however, is a good realist who knows what the family means, how it matters; yet, who does not ignore the purifying punishment for wickedness. He seems to be as good hearted as Rocco; however; his mind is indeed more "earthly." He heads for goodness filled with honest intentions but keeping both feet firmly on the ground. Vincenzo is most individual and, thanks to getting married, most separated from the family. The "villain" brother is Simone (Renato Salvatori) who becomes a successful boxer but gradually turns to declining psychological strength poisoned by desire, jealousy and vengeance. In between comes a poor mother Rosaria Parondi (Katina Paxinou) who copes with true psychological suffering of lost hope and humiliation. An interesting character is a "fallen woman" Nadia (Annie Girardot) who is as changeable and as romantic as a classical tragic female in her dreams but down to earth and desperate in her acts. When it seems possible for her to fulfill the dreams of a better life, it is too late...

There is so much profoundity and complexity in the movie that one could dwell in the themes for long. However, let me focus on the ARTISTIC FEATURES of the movie, too.

Visconti's movie is a very valuable cinematic work with truly stunning cinematography, perfect direction, excellent script, wonderful moments. Anyone who decides to see this film should not ignore three moments that appear to be the milestone of film's harmony. The first one is Rocco and Nadia on the top of Milanese cathedral where she opens her psyche to him and, at the same time, his reaction is like a great blow of individual reality affecting the mutual one: "We'll never meet again" The second moment is the scene when all the family except for Simone celebrate Rocco's championship in boxing. The two bells that ring: the first one being a mysterious visit, the second one being Simone's entrance leave critical thoughts and conclusions. The third is the final moment when Ciro talks to their youngest brother Luca about life, future, and errors that should never be made again. However, that is not all. There is something more that makes Visconti's film an artistic pearl, PERFORMANCES.

All cast do excellent jobs portraying their characters in a genuine way with a necessary invitation for viewers to identify. Alain Delon is unforgettable as Rocco: gentle, kind hearted, sometimes weak, sometimes very straightforward in personal decisions. The opposite counterpart appears to be Renato Salvatori who perfectly portrays Simone - so wild, so tremendously unstable, so easily led to fear, addiction and tragic despair. Another performance that deserves appreciation is Katina Paxinou's in the role of mother Rosaria: religious with a bit of superstition, so dominant over her sons, and generally so good hearted. A mention should be made of a minor role of Claudia Cardinale who plays Ginetta, Vincenzo's wife.

ROCCO E I SUOI FRATELLI is a must see, a movie that everyone should watch profoundly addressing three levels of attention: first, a sole interest in Visconti being one of Neorealist directors aside DeSica, Rossellini and others; second, the artistic side including cinematography, direction, charm, performances; third, insight into both content and characters, their realistic complexity, humanity of life. Then, these three hours of watching will not occur in vain.

"There's no hope now!"

[elvircorhodzic · 9/10 · 31 March 2017]

ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS is a crime drama about the struggle of a poor Italian family from the South with an unknown and "modern" city life. This family drama is full of emotional turmoils and tragic upheavals.

The four sons of a poor rural Italian family from the South travel with their mother to join their oldest brother in Milan. Each of the five brothers must adjust to a new life in the big city. Their mother is a strong bond that connects them. However, it is difficult to be a harmonious family in the big city. A beautiful prostitute is a cause of discord in their family...

Every new experience in the lives of these people is a kind of incident. The protagonists are not able to change their lives. The family is what makes life. Life without the family does not make sense. This is a realistic view of a bitter life, which have gradually extinguished. Emotions are not consistent with the nature of some of the protagonists. Therefore, strong outbursts of emotions are a little bit grotesque. Jealousy, devotion to family or an unrequited love are completely normal life situations. In this case, these are incurable life's wounds. Emotionalism and realism are so intertwined that it is impossible to draw a clear line in some key scenes. Therefore, certain events in this film can not be called a life experience, more a tragedy.

The atmosphere is obscured. It is a reflection of a life in the fog, without a clear future. Some scenes are truly shocking. Their significance is even greater, because, human spirit is excommunicated through these scenes.

Alain Delon as Rocco Parondi is a loyal, generous and naive young man. He carries a burden of deep pain and family responsibilities on his shoulders. A character, who is trying to find the best in people. His performance has certainly captured the hearts of many viewers.

Annie Girardot as Nadia has offered a great performance. A young and beautiful prostitute is torn between two philosophies of life. However, she is not able to choose between a false urban hedonism and true love. Others have chosen for her. It is a tragedy of her character. Renato Salvatori as Simone Parondi is a restless and depressed loafer. A violent man, who can not settle down. The big city is full of good opportunities, but some of them may be a great challenge for an inexperienced young man.

Their support are Katina Paxinou (Rosaria Parondi) as a hysterical and helpless mother, Max Cartier (Ciro Parondi) is a kind of voice of reason, Spiros Focás (Vincenzo Parondi) is a quiet and calm oldest brother and Claudia Cardinale (Ginetta) is his emotional wife.

This is a dynamic story about members of Parondi family which is falling apart under an influence of crime, mutual misunderstanding and superstition.

Visconti's masterwork

[blanche-2 · 9/10 · 16 July 2020]

This is perhaps Visconti's most powerful work, though today it may seem a little overwrought and dated.

"Rocco e sui fratelli" from 1960 is about a rural family (Katina Paxinou as Rosaria, Alain Delon as Rocco, Renato Salvatori as Simone, Spiros Focás as Vincenzo, Max Cartier as Ciro and Rocco Vidolazzi as Luca) who move from southern Italy to Milano, hoping to make a better life for themselves.

The brothers are all different, and therein lies the story, with the focus particularly on Rocco (Delon), a gentle soul who cares about his family and his family's honor, and Simone (Salvatori), a man with an addictive personality who only cares about himself.

Both Rocco and Simone fall for the same woman, a hooker (Anne Girardot) and come to blows - physically, since both Simone and Rocco train as boxers.

This isn't always an easy film to watch as it contains violence, rape, and murder. It also is extremely melodramatic by today's standards, with Paxinou's strong performance as the mother perhaps being viewed today as over the top. Acting styles have changed.

It's also a rather misogynistic film - well, it is Italy, it is another time period, and I'm not one who believes in cancel culture. It is also overly long - I saw the cut version, I believe, 168 minutes. I think certain scenes were cut due to censorship.

Though the film is in black and white, the look of Italy is amazing and expansive, as is the acting, particularly from Delon and Salvatori as they come up against one another in a biblical story. Claudia Cardinale pre-nosejob has a small role.

Delon, of course, is gorgeous. Hard to believe he'll be 85 this year.

WOW! Terrific Epic Scale Family Drama, Visconti's Best!

[antonio-21 · 10/10 · 7 September 2000]

Now I understand why Visconti regards this classic as his personal favorite!!

Overwhelmingly Terrific! The acting, design, music, cinematography, and especially direction are superb.

This epic, grand, personal, and highly dramatic tale of five brothers and their mother who move from Southern Italy to Milan to change their station in life is filled with wonderful vignettes and powerful set pieces.

The fight between two of the brothers in the slums of the city is one of the most harrowing and touching scenes ever in cinema history. This is the kind of fight which actually means something. When they hit each other you feel it down to the core of your being, not just watching mindless brutality like you would in some brainless movie.

The cast is uniformly good with standouts from Katina Paxinou as the long suffering mother, Annie Girardot as the doomed prostitute who is the catalyst of the story, and especially Alain Delon who is blessed with a cinematic beauty which adds poetry to everyone of his close-ups. The one actor who really surprised me was Renato Salvatori as the violent brother Simone. His gradual and completely believable change from sweet young man to violent brute is incredible to watch.

This film satisfies every true movie lovers dream. To visit a place you don't know, with characters who fascinate you, and are framed in a true CINEMATIC style, that succeeds on every level.

GO SEE THIS MOVIE!! I will add my voice to those who cry out for the DVD release of this true classic.

Visconti's masterpiece

[irajoel · 10/10 · 2 April 2001]

This primo example of Italian neo-realism directed by Luchino Visconti is one of those films that people either love or hate, there really is no in between when it comes to this film. I think it magnificent, and I've seen it 3 or 4 times. The last viewing was last fall at the Film Forum in New York City, and once again I was knocked out by it. The plot is simple, a poor family headed by the mother moves to the big city to try to make a better life for her and her sons. Katina Paxinou plays the mama mia in a larger than life performance that at times knocks you out of your seat. The film is divided into sections with each one devoted to one of the brothers, but the thrust (and heart) of the narrative concerns two of the brothers, Rocco played by a never better nor more beautiful Alain Delon & his intense love-hate relationship with his brother played by Renato Salvatori who also gives a superb performance. The other great performance in the film is from Annie Girardot as a prostitute with a semi-heart of gold. Girardot first has a vivid & difficult relationship with Salvatori who is a brutal & simple prize fighter, but then she drops him, when she falls in love with Delon. Needless to say trouble and high operatic drama follows that finally ends in tragedy that never fails to leave me in tears. Both soapy & operatic, this is one of the great films of the 60's & one of Visconti's best. Also look for a young Claudia Cardinale in an early film role.

A GREAT FILM from ITALY (1960)

[olddiscs · 10/10 · 23 February 2002]

This is a great Italian film directed by Visconti, which somehow escaped me until tonite 2/22/02.. I had heard about it and the praise it received at that time, (1960) but just never got to see it. I was seeing Foreign films at that time, I remember seeing La Dolce Vita, The Virgin Spring, and Hiroshima Mon Amour at our local foreign movie theatre in Essex County , The Ormont in East Orange.. long gone.. but missed this. Well, thanks to TCM, Ive had another sleepless night & have just seen a truly great Italian movie/ or great movie, period!!..What a saga ! what passion, what emotion !! The story of a southern Italian peasant family's journey and relocation to the big city... is just superb film making..The deterioration of the brothers relationship is almost pure GreeK Tragedy (there is a glimmer of hope with the youngest brother)...superbly acted especially by Renato Salvatori, as Simon, the most troubled of all the fratelli, and young, beautiful, Alain Delon as the younger brother Rocco who desperately tries to save his brother from destruction; and Annie Giradot, as Nadia the prostitute who adds to this families woes is just sensational in a role that should have won her all kinds of trophies. It was no mistake that Visconti used Greek Oscar winning actress, Katina Paxinou, in the role of an Italian mother( instead of say, Anna Magnani ?), her performance brings to mind all the heroines of Sophocles & Aesculus... yes tragedy and emotion of epic proportions..played to the nth degree... beautiful cast excellently directed... by Viscont1... thanks to TCM Im catching up on his great movies "SENSO" a few months back and now "Rocco" this is a treat.. also in cast a very young beautiful Claudia Cardinale as Ginetta.. This is film making at its best..dont miss it.. to be seen again and again..

stunning neorrealism

[Bocio · 10/10 · 6 June 2000]

Visconti at his peak. We are in the fifties, when Italian economy experiences a post-war boom. A Sicilian family arrives to Milan running from south's poverty. They dream with a new life at the industrial pole of the north. But Milan is not precisely a land of opportunities. Exploitation and xenophobia is the common destiny for those who came from south of the country. This film is a perfect sequel to "La Terra Tembla", one of the earliest Visconti's looks on Marxism. The hopes and lives of this five brother's family sink onto a pit at the same time as they destroy themselves. "Rocco and ..." is intensely played by the entire cast, including a young and delicate Alain Delon as the idealistic Rocco, an exquisite Annie Girardot as a prostitute trying to survive to her own hell and a terrific Renato Salvatori. But is the figure of the peasant mother, played superbly by Katina Paxinou, the most remarkable piece of this operatic story. Claudia Cardinale made some kind of Italian debut in this film. Nino Rota composes his most pitiful score and the black and white photography is stunning. The scene at the rooftop of Milan's Duomo is one of my all-time favorites. The American version is usually cut so try to find the original or some DVD restoration. A must see film.

Renato Salvatori shines in Visconti's masterpiece

[braugen · 10/10 · 2 April 2003]

The Italian master Luchino Visconti's 1960 (melo)drama "Rocco e i Suoi Fratelli" is the best film I've seen in a long, long time, and it deserves to be up there among European cinema's finest achievements, along with Visconti's other masterpiece, "Il Gattopardo" (1963).

Aristocrat turned communist, Visconti draws a beautiful, but horrible picture of Milan in the 1960s, when the "immigration" from the South was at its peek, and the social problems in Northern Italy exploded. The differences between north and south in Italy are enormous, and were perhaps even greater back when Visconti and his scriptwriting crew decided to make a contemporary film about a family moving northwards. Visconti wanted to make a film about a mother and her five sons, like the five fingers on her hand, like the mother herself exclaimes at the end of the film. This is not an agitational film, though, just a superbly acted study of a society in disorder and a portrait of a family trying to make ends meet in a harsh world they do not know. Like another Italian director, Pier Paolo Pasolini, noted, the South of Italy stayed an undeveloped land even after the North became industrialized, and that didn't happen before after WWII. This is the grim truth, and the person who thought this film was depressing should just stay on his or her pills and turn his or her eyes towards the real world, because the world IS a depressing place. You just cannot blame directors with a social conscience for trying to tell a story which lies close to their hearts, then you should stay away from film criticism and criticize the world instead. I am so tired of that.

Renato Salvatori makes a performance of a lifetime as the troubled brother Simone, while Alain Delon stays calm and controlled as Rocco, the protagonist, if there is one. Boxing is used as a metaphor for the anger the young men feel, but when Simone fails, Rocco succeeds by fueling his fighting with the contempt for his brother's actions. The two brothers are torn between the beautiful prostitute Nadia, whom they both love passionately, but she only loves Rocco- and that almost breaks the family. The other brothers are more supporting characters, and even though the film is long it should have been even longer- the second youngest brother, Ciro, is an interesting and morally strong character that I would have loved to see developed further. The pride, ignorance, hatred, loyalty and love of these people are held together by a perfect script by Visconti and his four collaborators, and cinema's finest cinematographer, Guiseppe Rotunno, moves his camera magnificently through the streets, houses, and locales of a growing, but morally decaying Milan.

This is cinematic perfection.

An astonishing work of almost religious intensity

[YouRebelScum · 10/10 · 22 April 2003]

I was lucky enough to catch this extraordinary film late last night on a cable channel. It's about a widow from southern Italy who moves to Milan with her five sons. Gradually they become embroiled in the big city, some becoming corrupted by its ways, others profiting. Rocco, played by Alain Delon, is an innocent, looking at his brothers and life in general with saintly patience. When his beneficent attitude comes under pressure, he doesn't give in to self-interest, choosing to sacrifice his own happiness, and that of the woman he loves, for his family. Family is really what 'Rocco and his Brothers' is all about. I've never got into Visconti, but seeing this film has made me want to see more of his work. Also, this move has one of the most powerful images I've ever seen, as the maddened Simone advances towards the doomed prostitute Nadia. It's an image so remarkable I actually shouted aloud when I saw it. I urge you to see this film. It's a remarkable, passionate, beautifully photographed drama that will stay with you for a long time.

Brilliant beyond belief

[bernebner · 5 July 2002]

I can't imagine Visconti surpassing this 1960 175-minute masterpiece (censored when shown in USA originally, now available complete on DVD). The triple threat Visconti (producer, co-screenwriter, director) pours all his passion in this epic tale of widowed Katina Paxinou leaving her poverty filled life in Southern Italy with family in tow for the big city life of Milan, hoping to better the life of her five sons, Rocco (Alan Delon), Simone (Renato Salvatori), Ciro (Max Cartier), Moroni (RogerHanin) and her youngest boy of 7. They find dwelling in the basement of a housing complex and better themselves eventually when Simone and, later, Rocco enter the world of boxing. Both become involved with a former prostitute definitively played by Annie Giradot. Simone turns brutish and attacks Rocco savagely. Rocco is a Christ like figure who forgives all and tries his best to save the family, but tragedy is in store when Simone kills Giradot in an unforgettable waterside scene. Also in the cast are a very young Claudia Cardinale and Suzy Delair. Paolo Stoppa is brilliant as the boxing impresario. Score by Nina Rota (some of which is used later in Fellini films) and photography by Giuseppe Rotunno are perfection

Excellent acting but tale of misguided filial obligation doesn't ring true

[Turfseer · 6/10 · 26 December 2010]

'Rocco and his Brothers' begins as the Parondi clan move from their rustic life in Lucania, in the southern part of Italy, to the bustling northern metropolis of Milan. Head of the clan is the mother, Rosaria, a loud, obnoxious woman who can be best described as a worry wart. She brings her four sons, Rocco and Simone (in their early 20s), Ciro, a teenager, and Luca (about eight), to visit Vincenzo, the older brother who is engaged to Ginetta (played by Claudia Cardinale before she became famous). The expectation is that Vincenzo has arranged for his in-laws to put his mother and siblings up until they can obtain permanent lodging. Unfortunately, Rosaria and Ginetta's mother don't get along and Vincenzo is forced to find other quarters for them. Vincenzo consults a maintenance man who advises him that the family can move into an expensive apartment, stop paying the rent after a month and have the City of Milan then put them into decent housing since anyone who has officially been evicted, must be provided with social services by the City.

'Rocco' is divided into five segments, focusing on each of the brothers. The first segment involves Vincenzo whose character appears in stark contrast to his younger siblings. Whereas the newly arrived Parondis are very unsophisticated (they've never seen snow before) and regarded as country bumpkins by the residents of Milan, Vincenzo is a virtual cosmopolitan. While he has a small part in the film, Vincenzo serves two important purposes: 1) He is held up as less stable than the the younger and more together domestic pillar, Ciro, in that he is never able to facilitate a reconciliation between his mother and in-laws and ends up marrying Ginetta, more out of obligation than complete love, after she accidentally becomes pregnant; and 2) He ends up bumping into Nadia, the prostitute, in the hallway of the family's apartment building, introducing her to his other brothers.

The next segment focuses on Simone who is the film's evil antagonist. All good melodramas need a good villain and Simone fits the bill to a tee. He dates Nadia for only a short time before she becomes sick of him; despite dumping him, in Simone's mind, Nadia has become his possession. Despite his professed love for Nadia, Simone has no guilt feelings about seducing the cleaning store manager where Rocco works. This is after he borrows (without permission) an expensive shirt from the cleaners to go on his date with Nadia. What's more he steals a broach from the store manager and gives it to Nadia as a gift; only to have it returned by Nadia to Rocco with a message to Simone that she doesn't want to see him ever again. For a short time, Simone has some success as a local boxer but soon falls from grace.

The next segment focuses on Rocco who can best be described as an 'enabler'. At the end of the film, Ciro describes Rocco as a 'saint' but criticizes him for forgiving everyone for their transgressions. Rocco's character is the linchpin of the film and he's not a convincing character at all. At first, he wants nothing to do with boxing as he regards it as sleazy. Rocco eventually wants to return to the South where his kind-hearted nature might flourish. After joining the Army, he runs into Nadia and they develop a hot and heavy relationship. This leads to the most dramatic moment in the film, when Simone rapes Nadia in front of Rocco out of jealousy and Rocco in turn orders Nadia to 'go back' to Simone out of some kind of misguided filial obligation. If you believe anyone would have been so attached to his brother after spending so much time trying to show a downtrodden prostitute a new life (and actually ending up transforming her), then perhaps I can sell you the Brooklyn Bridge. I know it's supposed to be an example of a 'family tragedy', but I just don't believe anyone would have done such a thing, especially after he's a direct witness to his girlfriend being raped. Equally unbelievable is the subsequent scene where Nadia is about to spit in Simone's face and tells him she'll never go back to him—and then ends up kissing him and agrees to be his concubine.

The next to last segment focuses on Ciro who is held up as the only well-adjusted brother in the clan. He is in effect, Rocco's better half. After Simone steals thousands of dollars from his former manager, Rocco (now a successful boxer himself), has his manager guarantee money to pay Simone's debts in exchange for a contract which will obligate him to fight for another 10 years. After Simone kills Nadia, Rocco keeps playing the part of the enabler by insisting that everyone in the family keep quiet. But Ciro wisely informs the police who pick Simone up for Nadia's murder. Ciro serves to restore order to the out of kilter Parondi clan. It's Ciro who also wisely tells Luca in the concluding final segment, that even returning to the south, the supposed fount of innocence, is not a panacea to life's problems since things are constantly changing and no one can predict the outcome of what life has in store for us.

'Rocco and his Brothers' is very well-acted coupled with excellent cinematography. It should have all the ingredients of a masterpiece but doesn't. That's because its main character is not believable. Sure there are plenty of people like Rocco who would bail their brothers out financially even with the knowledge they had done something wrong; but to order their true love back into a destructive relationship with their brother after he just raped her, that's something I couldn't believe.

One sad addendum: Annie Giardot (Nadia) who was married to Renato Salvatori (Simone) in real life, is still alive but has Alzheimers and has no memory of her former life.

Thank God for Italy...

[mido505 · 10/10 · 18 June 2006]

Although the French Nouvelle Vague gets all the press, it is the Italian neorealist movement that has had the greatest impact on American cinema. Let's face it, aside from some of Godard's editing tricks in Breathless, what kind of influence did the Nouvelle Vague really have? Godard. Truffaut. Chabrol. Rohmer. Rivette. Resnais. Decent filmmakers all, but, when one looks closely, more interesting for their influences than for their influence. But the Italians, oh, the Italians. Bava. Fellini. Rossellini. De Sica. Bertolucci. Visconti. I think it is safe to say that, without the films of these incredible innovators, American movies would have rotted away into nothing. It was the post WWII Italian neorealist movement, and its heady brew of Marxism and melodrama, that inflamed the imaginations of filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese, and led them, especially in Coppola's case, to use many of the same personnel on their own productions. Vittorio Storaro. Giuseppe Rotunno. Nino Rota. Ferdinando Scarfiotti. Danilo Donati. Where would the great American films of the seventies be without the contributions of these astoundingly talented artists and technicians?

Rocco and His Brothers is a jaw-dropping work, so ferociously brilliant that it takes your breath away. As a Visconti fan, I have been waiting to watch it for years. Yet, despite my eagerness, the DVD sat on top of the television for two weeks before I finally popped it in. Curiously, I had the same reaction to The Leopard, another Visconti masterwork, a couple of years ago. As I get older, I find it harder and harder to abandon myself to a work of art. Great works of art force one to give oneself over to them completely, suspend judgment, accept them unconditionally. When one is young and unformed, the process is easy; as one gets older, and the carapace of personality hardens, the process becomes more difficult. There is a good reason for this; the effort is often not worth while; one comes out of the experience diminished, drained, let down.

Rocco and His Brothers holds no such disappointment. It is a vast, capacious work, complex, generous, passionate, and intensely moving. The talent on display here defies analysis: Alain Delon is luminous as the saintly Rocco; Katina Paxinou achieves Shakespearean grandeur as the Parondi family matriarch; Giuseppe Rotunno's cinematography is starkly beautiful; and Nino Rota's music is heartbreaking. I do not want to give too much of this film away, but I must point out that, contrary to what some reviews on this site have to say, this film is not just about the corruption that big city life brings to a peasant family. Rocco may be a saint, but his all-forgiving nature drives much of the tragedy that unfolds. It is Ciro, the compassionate but just brother, and successful entrant into Milan's urban proletariat, who will lead the family into an uncertain but perhaps hopeful future.

Let me just finish by pointing out how wonderful it is to see a movie that ends with a meaningful and distinctive final shot. You don't see much of that anymore.

Has its place in film history, but too long, melodramatic, and misogynistic

[gbill-74877 · 6/10 · 4 January 2018]

Often lauded as a landmark film of Italian neorealism with great influence on filmmakers to come, 'Rocco and His Brothers' tells the tale of four brothers who move with their widowed mother to Milan, joining their eldest brother who is already there, and now getting engaged. They are impoverished and just getting by, and the subtext of the film is the move from southern Italy. While their hometown is never shown, its poor economic conditions are mentioned a few times, and remembering its traditions and keeping alive the idea of someday moving back there is important to them. One of the issues with the film is in the disconnection of all this to the main story, which is a highly melodramatic love triangle between two of the brothers and a feisty woman who turned to prostitution after her own difficult upbringing. Another issue is the film's length - it's far too long, feeling both ponderous and pretentious. Lastly, the film is misogynistic and therefore tough to watch, particularly in the second half.

I hated not just the character of Simone (Renato Salvatori), but how director Luchino Visconti shows women succumbing to him after he forces himself on them - the old 'no means yes' - and not just with the prostitute/girlfriend (Annie Girardot), but with the laundress before her. While he is the 'bad guy' of the movie, the fact that his brothers accept his increasing violence towards women, and the film is essentially sympathetic to it, left a bad taste in my mouth. You could say it's all realistic in the way Zola's depictions of the lower classes were, not shying away from how cruel people can be, but Rocco's reaction seems especially ludicrous. His enabling of Simone is immoral if you think about it, yet he's held up by the movie to be a Christ-like figure.

Girardot plays tough, sassy, provocative, and yet vulnerable well, and was the highlight of the movie for me. There are several nice scenes, including one in which a group of young men stand in a field at night silently in shame, but the reason they're ashamed is very unpleasant to watch. The scenes with Girardot and Rocco (Alain Delon) on a streetcar and later on top of the cathedral in Milan are both beautiful. Seeing the 'common people' celebrating, with all of that energy and the silly toasts the brothers come up, is one that felt truly authentic. It also ended on a thoughtful note and nice final shot.

The five brothers seem to represent a family man, saint, sinner, pragmatist, and hope for the future, but they seemed a little like caricatures to me. The older brother's part is superfluous (though because of it we do get to see Claudia Cardinale in the small role of his wife), and the many boxing scenes are silly. Paring these down considerably would have helped with the three hour run time, which feels like sprawling excess. It obviously has its place in film history, but there are better and more enjoyable ones to watch.

Overlong and Overacted Melodrama

[kenjha · 3/10 · 8 April 2011]

A poor Italian woman moves with her sons from the country to Milan. Although a segment is devoted to each of the five brothers, the focus is on Delon (the saint) and Salvatori (the brute). Delon is so sensitive that he gets teary-eyed if the wind blows too hard. There's a ridiculous scene where the two fight over a prostitute. The film covers several years, and it seems initially that Visconti is going to present every mundane event in excruciating detail. It's a chore to sit through three hours of random episodes, dull boxing scenes, and embarrassing melodramatics. Pretty much everyone overacts. At least the cinematography is decent and Rota contributes a nice score.

a true masterwork

[daflauta · 10/10 · 31 March 2006]

State-of-the-art directing, acting (Katina Paxinou, Alain Delon, Annie Girardot, Renato Salvatore), photography, superb musical score. A film to bring any sensitive and open mind to tears near the end. The destruction of a family order, jealousy, betrayal between brothers and the saintliness of Rocco, always ready to forgive, thinking more about his family than himself. All this in black and white! I hope film directors will never give away this format. By the way, I would like to know whether the plaque in Rosaria's new apartment (when Rocco's back from the army) reads "Pafundi" instead of "Parondi" on purpose (why?) or was it a flaw? I also would like to know which language do some characters spoke on stage(I think it's french), namely Rocco and Ginetta. I am watching a Russian edition whose dubbing is disastrous. Thanks to the ease of DVD players I could choose the Italian soundtrack and disable subtitles...

special

[Vincentiu · 12 January 2013]

I am a fan of Visconti movies. for the Barroco nuances and poetry of small things. for beauty of details and courage to present slices of a neorealism in which is mixed nostalgic crumbs of a world fall and need of new society definition. Rocco was first movie by him who I saw it. a film - bitter story. picture of a family, map of searches, touching drawing of a victory of city and the love as delicate web. and, sure, one of wonderful roles of Alain Delon. in fact, a gate, or only a window to a time who becomes ours. because story is universal. and the figure of poor mother - letter of a never ending poem , is remarkable. end of an age. seed of a new form of self definition for Italian cinema. but, very important, testimony, not about a period. but a state of soul. must see it !

The life of southern Italian inmigrants in Milan

[esteban1747 · 9/10 · 20 September 2001]

A jewel of world cinematography. This Visconti's film showed how post-war Italy started to change itself, the differences in culture and habits among the Italians from the South with those from the North, the development of industrial North and the underdevelopment of the South (often close to the status of any developing country). It showed also how tight are the relationship of the family in the South and the dominance of the parents who may order anything to any of their children even married. The tragedy started when Rocco's brother (Renato Salvatori)became jealous of the Rocco's success as a boxer, and killed his former fiancée (Annie Girardot) because she felt in love with Rocco (Delon). The conclusion of the film is that old things and/or system are becoming replaced by young new ones.

This film was one of the first of then young Claudia Cardinale, who played a secondary role.

Family Values?

[ameyer1790 · 10/10 · 11 May 2012]

Unlike others, including Roger Ebert, I see "Rocco and His Brothers" as a devastating condemnation of traditional Italian peasant family values. In the U.S. only slavery compares to what the old peasant classes of Europe experienced --legally free but entrenched in centuries of oppression, rural poverty and ignorance. In Italy, the film tells us, these conditions gave rise to the kind of loyalty that values family ties above everything, including the law, moral principles, even individual human life.

These are the "family values" that when extended to the neighborhood produce the mafia (then at its apex in 1960). And when extended nationally produce Fascism. Individuals in Rocco's family are enslaved and held down by these values. The film isn't about good and bad people, or about idyllic countryside versus evil city. Ciro, the everyman hero of the story, albeit a small role, reflects at the end that Rocco will not survive in the country either. The film is a reflection on tragedy awaiting both good and bad who cling to old, destructive values. If you're by nature not so good, these values will make you worse. If you're a good person, they'll lead you to destroy yourself and others.

When the family first moves to Milan, two passsers-by comment on them: "old country." Viewers at the time most likely understood old and new as pre- and post WWII. From the beginning the film sets up a dichotomy between old and new: Rocco's family's values amid the unending new construction projects in the film.

Look at Mama, bless her heart, that unsentimental image of what poverty and ignorance hath wrought. She brings her five sons to Milano –why? As she says, so they can get rich, and she can walk down a big city street hearing herself called "Signora." She doesn't care how they get rich --killed or maimed in the boxing ring (Simone may have been brain damaged there –- Mama still wants him to go back and wants Rocco to box also), theft, whatever. Then there's her rejection of Vincenzo, the eldest, ostensibly because of his accidental baby, but actually because he's now got a wife and baby to support instead of her, so obsessed is she with financial security (which self-centeredness she justifies as "keeping the family together"). No one gets a life of his own in Mama's view. She won't even go to the christening of her first grandchild, of whom she's jealous. Rocco's in the army. Does Mama care about his life there? Her letter asks for more money, although he's living on a practically non existent stipend. Children exist for the support and care of their parents, or they don't exist at all.

Simone and Rocco, yin and yang in this destructive universe, are photographed together in close physical contact more often than not: Simone, self centered emblem of old machismo, and Rocco, sacrificing himself and others in the name of family, in his mental and spiritual superiority more destructive than Simone. They're two sides of the same coin, like all opposites. (A wonderful symbol of Marx's dialectic). It's "Rocco and His Brothers" because Rocco is the guiding light leading his brothers down the wrong path for the right reasons. Ciro, rejecting these old values, striving to better himself, and Luca, too young to be completely imbued with them, are the positive lights to a possibly better future.

This is great

[Bizas · 9/10 · 1 June 2001]

Maybe the best italian movie i have ever seen... until now. In 2001 i saw this film for the first time and it seems it could be done in our days.

Brilliant!!!

A FEAST of a Movie That Always Satisfies - Renato Salvatori's Moment of Glory

[poetcomic1 · 10/10 · 8 March 2015]

I am delighted to find that decades later this has lost NONE of its sweeping power and operatic splendor. Renato Salvatori should have received a shelf of acting prizes for this role - it is one of the most intense and beautiful acting jobs since Marlon Brando filmed 'Streetcar'. Close behind is the legendary role of Annie Girardot's doomed 'Nadia'. Alain Delon is heartbreaking and overwhelmed by love, life, all that is demanded of him by family, everything.

A great movie carries all before it. Claudia Cardinale is given a 'neo-realist' simplicity that actually accents her beauty far better than the over made up and stylized version of herself we came to know. Katina Paxinou is a force of nature and though Magnani would have been magnificent in the role she would have been 'too Magnani'. Paxinou vanishes into the role of the mother with perfect understanding of every gesture, word and shade of feeling asked of her. Even small roles - take for instance the owner of the laundry - are fabulous! SO much good acting it is almost TOO much good acting. I could describe a dozen more small roles played to perfection.

Don't watch any great film for awhile till your mind and heart are good and hungry and rediscover this masterpiece.

Pregnant with dramatic human emotions

[kijii · 10/10 · 25 November 2016]

Although I've seen several Visconti films, this is my favorite. In some ways it reminds me of Raging Bull made twenty years later. This is partially due to its story about the rise and fall of a boxer and partially due to its broad view of the boxer's personal life and volatile relationships. Also, both films display stunningly black and white photography. Although Raging Bull was a epic biopic about an actual boxer, it's hard to believe that a film historian like Martin Scorsese wasn't heavily influenced by Rocco and His Brothers when he made Raging Bull.

This film also reminds me a bit of grand opera (without the music). It is pregnant with dramatic human emotions such as love, hate, jealousy, revenge, murder, and remorse. THIS beautiful 'opera' is in five 'acts,' each named for one of the five Parondi brothers: (Act 1) Vincenzo, (Act 2) Simone, (Act 3) Rocco, (Act 4) Ciro, and (Act 5) Luca. The five 'acts' of the three-hour movie aren't, in any way, short stories or vignettes exclusive to the character named: the entire movie is about all of them and always within a family context. However, the film sections (named after the brothers) tend to give the audience some structural clues about how the characters evolve, with each taking on more prominent roles at different times in the story.

Greek actress Katina Paxinou, who had won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1943 as a Spanish freedom fighter in For Whom the Bell Tolls and played in several Greek tragedies, seems equally at home here as the quintessentially volatile Italian mother, Rosaria Parondi. After her husband's accidental death, she fulfills her lifelong dream of moving from the country in the South of Italy to the big city of Milan. This is where she always dreamed of living, and this is where she believes her sons can make successes of their lives.

As Rosaria and four of her sons arrive in Milan on the train, their eyes are full of hope and excitement for the future. They expect to be greeted by the fifth and eldest son, Vincenzo (Spiros Focás), but he is not there. When they trace him down, he is celebrating his upcoming marriage with his fiancee's family. When his own large family arrives on the doorstep of the party, his plans suddenly change. His new priority is to help his family get settled in Milan.

Rosaria and her sons take a house and start looking for work. Almost instantly God provides them with a snowstorm, and the four oldest brothers take to the streets to shovel snow for startup money. While Vincenzo already has a job in housing construction, Simone (Renato Salvatori) looks for a future as a prizefighter and falls in love with a loose but cute and outgoing girl, Nadia (Annie Girardot). When Simone's trainer becomes concerned about his lifestyle, he calls his brother, Rocco (Alain Delon), into his office and asks him to look out for Simone —watching to see that he stays away from drinking, smoking, and the wrong kind of company.

Although the Parondi family is very close, friction develops between Simone and Rocco when Simone's boxing career starts to take a tumble, and Rocco is asked to take his place. As Simone's life and career gradually slide, that of the idealistic Rocco succeeds. Rocco knows that Nadia is a troubled girl, from a troubled home, and that she has a prison record. She had openly told him about these things before. He feels sorry for her and wants her to be happy.

Simone takes Rocco's friendship and concern for Nadia as love, and this, coupled with the two brothers' reversal of fortune, makes Simone jealous of him. This comes to a head when, Simone and his gang follow Rocco and Nadia into a dark field one night. There, as Simone's gang holds Rocco back, Simone rapes Nadia in front of him. He then tries to further humiliate him by drawing him into a fight. Unable to fight his brother, Rocco is badly beaten and left lying in the gutter. Not wanting to worry his mother, and with no where else to go, he stays with Vincenzo and his wife for the night.

Ciro is the steady brother who works as a technician in an Alfa Romero factory and plans to get married soon. In the Ciro section of the film, we learn that Simone's life continues on a downward spiral as he moves into his mother's house with his 'whore,' Nadia. When his debts become overwhelming, Rocco is forced to sign a long- term fighting contract as the only way to get Simone totally out of debt. Ciro serves as a go- between for his two estranged brothers---one too hard and the other too idealistic.

The final portion of the film is the Luca section. It serves as something of a summary—a coda--for the entire Parondi family epic. This section compares what life was in the country and what it had become in the city. Although Ciro tries to guide the youngest brother, Luca (Rocco Vidolazzi), back to the country before it is too late; before his life is too settled; and while he can still change; he wants Luca to understand the past, what is important and what isn't. To Crio, Luca represents the family's future.

Visconti

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 14 November 2017]

Having recently been uprooted to Milan, Rocco (Alain Delon) and his four brothers each look for a new way in life when a prostitute (Annie Girardot) comes between Rocco and his brother Simone (Renato Salvatori).

Censors demanded that four scenes be cut or the film would be confiscated and the producer prosecuted; however, after negotiations, producer Goffredo Lombardo agreed to darken the critical scenes within the film with filters; two of these darkened scenes were omitted entirely.

This attempt at censorship may be the most interesting part of the film. Yes, it is celebrated. Yes, Roger Ebert loved it. And it is certainly worthy of praise. But it does run long and is not overly interesting. A great film from a technical standpoint, but not particularly entertaining.

A wonderful cast in a neorrealistic film

[jesusito · 10/10 · 7 September 2002]

In this truelly neorrealistic film, Visconti uses well known professional actors and gives a new push in Italian neorrealism. The camera focuses on the faces of the caracters, reflecting their thoughts and sentiments. At the same time the mechanisms of society that direct the fate of the characters are made clear through the presence of the secondary characters and the presentation of a city (Milano) under constant movement and constuction. The ideal of life in the country is present throughout the movie, though not even once we actually see a scene in the country. But at the same time Visconti through his caracters criticizes the poverty of Italian country, deconstructs the dream of a better life in the big city, and finally closes the film with a touch of optimism.

"I would like to long for a car."

[jzappa · 6/10 · 19 August 2009]

Having seen Death In Venice before this, I'm taken by surprise when I see two pieces by a director who, with one, disconnected me with his coerced subtlety and understatement, and with this one, ultimately lost me by exploding the melodrama to heights of overacting I have rarely seen. There are so many more films by Luchino Visconti that I want to see that I am bound to be impressed by some of them, but they will likely be the ones that find equilibrium, whether in overstatement or understatement, or neither. Neither of the aforementioned films, no matter how seethingly sensual they may be, have egged me on.

There is something to be said about Visconti's emotional instinct. For example, opening credits take a particularly long time, which complies with this film's elaborate concept of time. I would venture to say that time generally does slow down when watching Italian films, and that can be a really good thing. Usually. Here, it instead feels like it is magnifying everything, and the film, which could have been pared down to a neo-realist drama, becomes more and more like a soap opera. At first, I was thinking it would've been a great color film. After awhile, I was glad it wasn't. It was the only thing about it that didn't feel romantically embellished.

Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori and Annie Girardot comprise a very strong cast in this melodrama about the gap between family and society. Actually, in Italy, it's not melodrama. It's reality. They call it realism. We call it overacting. I am aware that this film is a Venice Grand Special Jury Prize winner, and overall a highly appreciated classic of Italian cinema, but there are simply too many contagious weeping scenes, nuggets of wisdom in the form of metaphors too eloquently put for supposedly unplanned conversations by struggling lower- class people, and by the last hour, it all seems to be arbitrary for the sake of producing tragedy.

The film is a depiction of class difference between Northern and Southern Italians. It includes an awesome boxing match between one of the eponymous brothers and another character. And there are other powerful moments such as when we see a field full of people standing in shame, a moment which propels a sudden change in tone an hour and a half in and feels like an epic turn. Delon as the sweet and loyal Rocco is emotively spongy and emphatic, but it is Salvatori who fills the screen with the grief of an agonized and wounded character. His performance is real and agitated, and Girardot is arresting as the pathetic prostitute. Nevertheless, there is a tilted fusion of dense emotionalism and realism to such a degree that the lines separating each become foggy and slight. However, such resulted in one very interesting line: "I would like to long for a car."

Grossly overrated

[salmig99 · 4/10 · 10 July 2011]

I had never seen any movies by Italian director Luchino Visconti and boy... was I disappointed. Beyond some nice black and white photography and adequate camera work, I didn't see much else that even remotely justifies all the fuss. I hear Visconti was a great theatre director, but directing movies is a different matter. I had to check the IMDb.com site to verify the date this movie was made. Such overacting on the part of practically all the cast made me think of silent movies that were shot back in the twenties when the actors had to compensate for the absence of sound. I watched this movie with my wife and after two rather depressing hours we both broke into a fit of giggles, when right near the end, 'la mamma' opens her apartment's door and there is this close-up on Simone's face. I'm OK with stereotypes, but laying it on this thick is just ridiculous. I find it hard to believe anyone would come up with a film like this in... 1960, the same year Michelangelo Antonioni was filming l'Avventura -- not to mention all the dazzling inventions of the French Nouvelle Vague. The only thing that I truly enjoyed about 'Rocco' was Annie Girardot's performance. I had seen her in a couple of mediocre commercial French movies such as 'Elle fume pas..' and I felt she was a natural, one of these rare actors that command respect the minute they appear, but I certainly never imagined that given the chance, she could have been one of the greatest celluloid tragedians of all times. You may think that I am a little harsh with my four stars out of a possible ten, but if not for Annie Girardot's performance, I would have gone much lower.