Rocco and
His Brothers
“A
milestone of world
cinema, Luchino
Visconti’s
Rocco and His
Brothers stars inter-
national screen legends
and won the FIPRESO
prize and the Special Prize
at the Venice Film Festival
in 1960. It has been
acknowledged as an
influence on Francis Ford
Coppola’s The Godfather
series and Martin
Scorsese’s
Raging Bull...”
AN EPIC STUDY OF FAMILY, SEX AND BETRAYAL, Rocco and His Brothers
is the story of a poor, tight-knit family consisting of Rosaria Parondi (Katina
Paxinou) and her sons — Vincenzo (Spiros Focás), living in Milan and engaged
to Ginetta (Claudia Cardinale); Rocco (screen idol Alain Delon at his dark,
brooding but saintly best); Simone (Renato Salvatori); Ciro (Max Cartier); and
Luca (Rocco Vidolazzi) — who are forced to move from
Italy's rural South to Milan, following the death of the boys'
father, Antonio.
Along with Fellini's La Dolce Vita and Antonioni's L'avventura,
Rocco and His Brothers (Rocco e i suoi fratelli) pushed Italian
cinema into a new era — one unafraid to confront head-on the hypocrisies
of the ruling class, the squalor in urban living and the collision between generations.
The character of Ivo (Corrado Pani) is very 50s 'bad boy' and, along with the
excellent cast, has to be mentioned. Subtitles are unobtrusive and clear.
Rosario is desperate to be respected and bemoans the family's mis-fortunes,
chastising Vincenzo for not still being in mourning for his father. Her attitude
creates a rift with Ginetta's parents, but she ex-pects Vincenzo to find accommodation
for his family. Once they have found an apartment, they discover how to take
advantage of the welfare system.
Ciro goes to work for Alfa Romeo and finds himself a girlfriend but, drawn to
the bright lights, Simone becomes involved with the brutal world of boxing —
at the mercy of the creepy Duillo and the strict trainer/gym-owner Cerri. He
becomes obsessed with local prostitute Nadia (the alluring and gifted Annie
Girardot), but as he burns himself out and begins to behave irrationally, it
is an obsession that will lead
to conflict, an unspeakable act of violence and a tragedy that will
have terrible consequences on his family.
Rocco believes in destiny but yearns for his homeland — "the land of the
olive tree, the moon and rainbows." A gentle soul, he has to make difficult
choices in order to protect his family.
"In my home town where I was born I left my heart there, forlorn…" —
a line from the poignant song at the end of the film. The emotive film score
is by Nino Rota (Oscar and BAFTA-winning composer of TheGodfather
and Fellini's 8½).
•
Directed
by Luchino Visconti — the master director of such classics as The Leopard,
Bellissima and Death in Venice — Rocco And His Brothers
is, from 25 February (2008), now available on DVD. The two-disc edition of Rocco
and his Brothers includes the best-ever visual DVD transfer of the film
— a new anamorphic restoration of the film in its fully-uncut original
three-hour version. It also has over three hours of extras (detailed below)
and a host of documentaries and interviews.
One of Visconti's most revered films, Rocco and His Brothers — in
The Masters of Cinema Series — is a cinematic shock that erupts
on the fault-line of emotion.
Catalogue Number EKA40257 | Barcode 5060000402575 |
RRP £22.99 | Certificate 15 | Running Time 170 minutes |
B&W | Crime/Drama | Director Luchino Visconti.
Special Features — 2 x disc edition containing a new anamorphic
restoration of the film in its fully-uncut original three-hour Italian release
version | New and improved English subtitles | Three hours of extras, including
newsreels from 1960 | Lengthy interviews with cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno
and the stars of the film — Annie Girardot and Claudia Cardinale | The
original Italian trailer | Two documentaries: TF1's Les Coulisses du tournage
and RAI's hour-long Luchino Visconti | 40-page booklet featuring archival
imagery, articles by Luchino Visconti (The Miracle that Gave Man Crumbs)
and respected Italian film critic Guido Aristarco (The Earth Still Trembles)
and a rare interview with Visconti (questions for the Author) translated into
English for the first time.
“A
milestone of world