Rocco et ses frères

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.

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.

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..

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.

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.