Rocco and His Brothers

Until the final reel, this neo-realist generational saga from Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti offers a compelling story of five brothers from the countryside who try to assimilate into modern Milan city life with varying and ultimately tragic results. Although each of the brothers gets his own story, the main focus is on Rocco (Alain Delon) and Simone (Renato Salvatori), the "good" and "bad" brothers, respectively, who share a skill in boxing and a love for the same woman, a prostitute named Nadia (Annie Girardot). When Nadia throws over the impetuous Simone for the reserved Rocco, Simone exacts a cruel and humiliating revenge--raping Nadia as his brother is forced to watch. As Simone, Nadia, and Rocco inexorably march towards their final tragic destiny, the film scales new melodramatic heights--exploding finally in a crescendo of tears from all the principals (plus the boys' Italian mama) that could have conceivably created an eighth sea. While it doesn't compare to such brilliant multi-generational Italian soap operas as Coppola's The Godfather series or Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America, Visconti's Rocco still has that rare quality of feeling like a big novel--something you don't often find in movies. Recommended for larger foreign collections. (R. Pitman) [Blu-ray/DVD Review—July 10, 2018—Milestone, 2 discs, 177 min., in Italian w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $34.99, Blu-ray/DVD Combo: $39.99—Making its latest appearance on DVD and Blu-ray debut, 1960’s Rocco and His Brothers features a fine transfer with LCPM 2.0 audio on the Blu-ray release. Extras include interviews with screenwriter Suso Cecchi d’Amico’s daughter Caterina d’Amico (42 min.) and members of the cast and crew (35 min.), outtakes (6 min.), a restoration video (3 min.), and an introduction by filmmaker Martin Scorsese (3 min.). Bottom line: a beautiful edition of Visconti’s classic melodrama.]