Wow! Such a good movie.

The greatest movie ever!

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

I assumed as I watched "Rocco and His Brothers" that Luchino Visconti intended this as a film illustrating about the dehumanizing aspects of living in the big city. The story is about a family from the country that moves to Milan and ultimately many of them turn out to be rather soulless--perhaps due, in part, to the rigors of everyday life. Because of this, it is VERY difficult to like most of the characters--the mother and some of her sons (particularly the two which are featured most prominently) are selfish and nasty. But, if you can look past this, the film is very well acted and very well made. Pleasant viewing? Good grief no...but very interesting.The film is broken into five segments. Each is named after one of the brothers and not all what occurs centers just on the brother for which each portion is named, as Simone and Rocco are prominent throughout the film. It all begins with Mama and four of her sons arriving in the city, uninvited, in the middle of her son Vincente's engagement party to Ginetta. Mama just assumes Vincente will take them all in when they leave their country home and get his brothers jobs. Ginetta's family is flabbergasted and there is a huge argument and her family stomps out of the party. Despite this being Mama's fault, she is angry at Ginetta throughout the film and sulks. This is the first indication that this family has an illness in their soul--much more is to come later.The rest of the film mostly centers on Rocco and Simone. Simone has a real chance to bring himself and his family out of poverty, as he seems to have a lot of talent when it comes to boxing. The problem is that Simone is also lazy and a real creep. As for Rocco, he seems like a nice guy but also is inextricably tied to his family. Nothing matters more than his family--even right and wrong. So, when Simone ultimately proves to be a truly evil pig, Rocco cannot bring himself to condemn him and even makes excuses for him. Things then only get worse until, ultimately, Ciro cannot take it any more and deserts his family in order to do what is right. Still, as the film ends, Rocco remains impotent--unable to do anything to break from his family's sick need to protect itself from the world even when they have done evil. If you wonder why I haven't gotten more specific about the plot, it is because saying more would really spoil the film. Plus, at nearly three hours, there is much, much more to "Rocco and His Brothers".An odd thing about this movie and many other Italian films of the era is that the film has a multinational cast. Instead of just Italians, there are French and Greek actors in this one and the film is dubbed into Italian. While this may sound terrible, it actually works pretty well. Plus, while they might not have been natural Italian speakers, the non-Italians did a nice job.While I think, as I mentioned above that the film was intended as an indictment about the dehumanizing nature of the big city, I do like how many different interpretations can be found. While I assume that Visconti might not have envisioned other meanings (since he was of a strong socialist bent), it could also be assumed that the family was always corrupt or that the city only gave them a chance to reveal how rotten they were. Plus, not all the boys were bad--several seemed decent but also some of these were unfortunately extremely loyal to a mother who was rather awful. From a psychological or psychoanalytic point of view, the film also offers MANY interesting interpretations--such as some weird multi-child Oedipal fixation occurring throughout the film. Or, that so much of Simone's story is phallic. Or, that the boys have never learned to separate themselves from the umbilical cord. Or, perhaps the meaning is more obvious--misplaced loyalty. I am sure there are also many, many other interpretations and I appreciate that about a film. I hate obvious and easy to understand--and "Rocco and His Brothers" is a very complex movie.So is the film worth seeing? Well, yes, it is a pretty amazing film for 1960. But, it also is very unpleasant and very, very long--so it's certainly NOT a film that everyone will enjoy. Additionally, it's NOT a film I would recommend if you have been a victim of sexual assault, as the film touches on subject matter that might be a bit overwhelming and there is a rape scene that is tough to watch (though fortunately not too sexually graphic).By the way, I noticed that some described this as a Neo-Realist film. While it has many aspects of such a type of film (such as its being set in natural locations around the city of Milan), the film did employ mostly professional actors (such as Alaine Delon and Katina Paxinou)--something you would never find in a true example of Neo-Realism. Perhaps it's a Semi-Neo-Realist film. In general, as Italy recovered from the economic problems following WWII, the number of non-actors starring in the Neo-Realist films decreased--probably since the studios gradually were able to pay for real actors. Yet, despite this, many of the early Neo-Realist films are still among the greatest films in the country's history.

This Italian film was featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, so naturally, without knowing the story, plot or really any other details, apart from the near three hour length, I was going to watch it regardless, from director Luchino Visconti (Ossessione, Senso, Death in Venice). Basically the film is seeing into the lives of a rural Italian family, the Parondi family, led by matriarch Rosaria Parondi (Katina Paxinou), who are heading north to Milan, and we see the individual five stories weaved together as each family member struggle to adapt to life in the large city. The family include Vincenzo (Spiros Focás), Simone (Renato Salvatori), Rocco (L'Eclisse's Alain Delon), Ciro (Max Cartier) and Luca (Rocco Vidolazzi), and one by one we see their stories unfold as they have problems, but they each manage to find something to do. We see prostitute Nadia (BAFTA nominated Annie Girardot) having both Simone and Rocco pursuing and desiring her, the pivotal moment sees her raped by Simone with Rocco watching, he starts military service, and he gives her up in order to somehow keep the family whole. There are a few bad things going on, but essentially building Italian neorealism the film does not end with a substantial resolution, much more with doom and gloom hanging over the family, with a family feud and a murder. Also starring Roger Hanin as Morini, Paolo Stoppa as Cerri, Suzy Delair as Luisa and Claudia Cardinale as Ginetta. I will admit that I found it hard to concentrate on most of the stuff going on because of having to read the subtitles and knowing that the film was pretty long, but it was a good soap-like melodrama, filmed with good black and white photography to create the feel of the grim urban environment, but for the hard hitting material it is worth it, an interesting enough drama. It was nominated the BAFTA for Best Film from any Source. Worth watching!

Katina Paxinou is Mama Parondi. She moves with her four sons from an impoverished village in southern Italy to the big city of Milan in the north. Three sons -- Salvatore (Simone), Delon (Rocco), and Focas (Vincenzo) have varied careers trying to make a living in what's supposed to be an anomic atmosphere. The family falls apart, a bit like "The Grapes of Wrath." It's a gripping film once in gets going but it still induces fatigue, almost three hours long, loud and theatrical, and filmed in gritty black and white. Some reviewers have mentioned the beauty of the images but it got by me, except for some startling shots during a climactic stabbing. Almost all the settings are drab and smoky. The night scenes were shot at night with stark but minimal lighting. When a man rapes a woman they roll around in the mud and belt one another, although how a man who is supposed to be drunk, enraged, surrounded by horrified witnesses, freezing, and splashed with mud can rape anybody -- well, it's beyond me.Delon is young, handsome, naive, loyal, and generous. I guess he represents the virtues and values of the sunny South. "You must have faith," he tells Annie Girardot, the hooker he has fallen in love with. "Faith in what?" "In everything, everybody." Wouldn't it be pretty to think so, to quote someone of a tougher temperament.The acting is okay. Delon certainly looks the part of the unspoiled naif. Katina Paxinou as the queen of this brood is always on the edge of frenzy, dashing around and running off at the hands, full of territorial pride and prejudice. The best role may be that of Renato Salvatore as the good boxer who doesn't quite have the necessary speed but who is ready to murder anyone who gets too close to the girl friend he hasn't been with in two years, Girardot. He's the son who most clearly illustrates the kind of corrupted behavior the tentacular city generates in weaker personalities. "He had good roots but he was poisoned by the herbs." Although, come to think of it, there's no way of being sure that the same tragic confrontations wouldn't have taken place in the sunny South. Maybe the South is supposed to "stand for something," a kind of state of mind, of mechanical solidarity or a parallel existence like the Chinatown in "Chinatown." The director, Luchino Visconti, was born into an aristocratic and very wealthy family in Milan, so he must know the city, but he brings us down into the murky depths of gymnasiums and cheap cafés. That Visconti was gay had nothing to do with it, but that he belonged to the Communist Party probably did. Nino Rota's fine score anticipates that of "The Godfather."I saw this when it was released and found it enthralling. But I'm beginning to wonder if my patience for long, drawn-out dramas is growing thinner with age. I think it might have been cut by about an hour without bleeding to death.

"Rocco e Il Suoi Fratelli" is an Italian language film created in the 70's. It tells the story of a southern Italian family of four brothers and their widowed mother. Although the beginning has that "boring-black-and-white" feel that we have come to expect from old cinema, the middle and the end of the film sandwich have me convinced that this movie has one of the most abruptly dramatic story lines that I have experienced. If it hadn't been a class assignment, I would have probably turned it off within the first thirty minutes. However, seeing as I had to watch the whole film, I was able to witness the sudden change in boring factor. Quickly spiraling into heavy yet "classically" Italian dramatic-ism, the family betrayal, self-destructive characters, drunken brawling, and sexual escapades of the various characters seem to redeem the general "watch-ability." Although I do admit the film is more than decent, it seems native Italian language speakers appreciate the movie more than I did. Advice: resist initial urge to give up on the movie, it gets good!