• Rocco and His Brothers is one of the greatest directors of all time, Luchino Visconti, at the height of his powers. If this isn’t his single best work, it is his follow-up to this, The Leopard in 1963 is, so this stretch in his career is his peak (also the peak for so many other auteurs including fellow Italian countryman Antonioni and Fellini).
  • It is a saga—a tragedy about five brothers – the Parondi brothers- it covers all five brothers with their own chapters (but they intersect of course a great deal) over the course of a decade. It is big—powerful storytelling and Visconti pairs that with a handsomely mounted large cinematic canvas. It picks up with them arriving in Milan on the train with everything they own on their backs.

It is a saga—a tragedy about five brothers – the Parondi brothers- it covers all five brothers with their own chapters (but they intersect of course a great deal) over the course of a decade. It is big—powerful storytelling and Visconti pairs that with a handsomely mounted large cinematic canvas

  • It is a story of industrialization and migration—this is a spiritual sequel to Visconti’s 1948 closest-he-ever-came-to-Neorealism film La Terra Trema– this family could be from that village. It has been compared to Grapes of Wrath and I see that as well
  • Nino Rota did the score—harrowing—it is just one of the many parallels with The Godfather (the story of a single Italian family and brothers, the rise and fall, the leader of the brothers (Alain Delon’s Rocco here) doing a stint in the army. This is clearly an important text to Coppola and Coppola shares Visconti’s almost operatic style and influence of Greek tragedy
  • After their arrival in Milan they go to the oldest brother’s engagement party with Visconti designing the frame like von Sternberg with streamers obstructing. Grand mise-en-scene and lets the drama play out in wide shots
  • Chapter breaks for each of the brothers
  • A charming scene of the “hicks” seeing snow for seemingly the first time (also excited about making money- they shovel)—Visconti, though not a purist like the Dardennes or Rossellini—is a realist—there is nothing happening here really in this scene but he plays it out for five minutes showing the brothers and their mother interacting. Building.
  • The introduction of Annie Girardot’s Nadia character at the 27 minute mark- frame obstructed by a light bulb and bicycle in foreground. A tragic Greek character if I ever saw one on screen- and a breathtaking performance from Girardot – along with Delon- the finest in the film

Annie Girardot’s Nadia character a tragic Greek character if I ever saw one on screen- and a breathtaking performance from Girardot – along with Delon- the finest in the film

  • Visconti uses character blocking and depth of field to design the frame like Welles or Kurosawa—at 34 minutes Delon is in the background middle on a chair with a leg in the air. It is a cinematic painting. The youngest brother Luca in the middle-right and Simone is foreground left- a stunner.

Visconti uses character blocking and depth of field to design the frame like Welles or Kurosawa

at 34 minutes Delon is in the background middle on a chair with a leg in the air. It is a cinematic painting. The youngest brother Luca in the middle-right and Simone is foreground left- a stunner.

  • The Simone chapter at 47 minutes-a thief, hothead, violent, a gambler, Delon’s Rocco is next, he’s quiet, not especially bright, sacrificial– there’s a Cain and Abel Biblical reading here.
  • At 114 minutes is the very strong cathedral set-piece sequence– rooftop of Milan’s Duomo—Visconti creating an angle with the camera to focus on foreground and background depth of field- magnificent

At 114 minutes is the very strong cathedral set-piece sequence– rooftop of Milan’s Duomo—Visconti creating an angle with the camera to focus on foreground and background depth of field- magnificent

  • This was a controversial film. The Simone character sells himself to another man for money. And at the half-way point we get the rape scene and sequence. It is horrifying—devastating. It also foreshadows (and perfectly mirrors) the climatic murder sequence finale
  • The Ciro sequence chapter at 122 minutes- these are rich characters- each of the brothers along with Nadia and the mother.
  • The boxing sequences are handsomely mounted, too. Crisp black and white photography. 150 min mark as the lights of the arena come up before Rocco’s big bout
  • Simone and Nadia in the forest scene is beautiful (and of course, beautifully tragic) on its own—Visconti arranging them among the trees and bouncing the streetlight off the water. But it is also intercut with another scene (Rocco’s big fight) adding a layer to it—and it is a callback mirroring the rape earlier—yet another layer. This has to have had an influence on Coppola’s trademark murder montages. Nadia raises her arms and they extend beyond Simone’s body as he comes at her with a blade—wow.

Nadia raises her arms and they extend beyond Simone’s body as he comes at her with a blade—wow.

  • Luca’s sequence starts at 161 minutes (this is a 179 minute epic). It has Rocco’s somber toast (brilliantly written). The drama that ensues is heavy. Everyone is screaming- it does feel like they should almost be singing opera it is so emotional and when you combine Rota’s score this is where the neorealist purists jump off the ship here with both the film and Visconti. But he’s not a pure realist—he infuses operatic melodrama throughout and earns the emotional high wire act. It absolutely works.
  • It ends on Luca in the street as it should in a long shot—their story continuing on.
  • A masterpiece—towering achievement