Something of a classic from Italian auteur Luchino Visconti as the Parondi family, following the death of the patriarch, move from rural southern Italy to the industrial north and the city of Milan.
Told in a series of stanzas accorded to each brother, the grainy black and white social realism of the feature is deeply effective as Rocco (Alain Delon) confronts city life, family pressures and love for prostitute Nadia (Annie Girardot). The fact she is also the object of desire of his wayward, crime-involved brother Renato Salvatori drives a deep wedge into family life.
For the first two or so hours of this almost three hour film, Rocco & His Brothers is a gutsy, brooding slow build of a superb, character-driven feature. But, sadly, as it moves towards its inevitable confrontation, the film occasionally slips into melodramatic hysteria.
Rating: 74% (90% for the first two hours!)
Director: Luchino Visconti (Death In Venice, The Leopard)
Writer: Suso Cecchi D’Amico (Bicycle Thieves, The Leopard), Pasquale Festa Campanile (The Leopard, The Four Days of Naples), Massimo Franciosa (The Leopard, The Four Days of Naples), Enrico Medioli (The Damned, Once Upon a Time in America)
Main cast: Alain Delon (The Godson, The Leopard), Annie Girardot (The Piano Teacher, Hidden), Renato Salvatori (Z, Queimada)
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