Rocco e i suoi fratelli (1960)

Director:

Luchino Visconti

Writers:

Luchino Visconti (scenario) &
Suso Cecchi d'Amico (story) ...

Release Date:

26 June 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

The widow Rosaria moves to Milano from Lucania with her 4 sons, one of whom is Rocco. The fifth son...

Plot Keywords:

Prostitute | Boxing | Murder | Dry Cleaners | Widow

Awards:

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 8 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Alain Delon	...	Rocco Parondi
Renato Salvatori	...	Simone Parondi
Annie Girardot	...	Nadia
Katina Paxinou	...	Rosaria Parondi
Alessandra Panaro	...	Ciro's Fiancee
Spiros Focás	...	Vincenzo Parondi (as Spiros Focas)
Max Cartier	...	Ciro Parondi
Corrado Pani	...	Ivo
Rocco Vidolazzi	...	Luca Parondi
Claudia Mori	...	Laundrey Worker
Adriana Asti	...	Laundrey Worker
Enzo Fiermonte	...	Boxer
Nino Castelnuovo	...	Nino Rossi
Rosario Borelli	...	Un biscazziere
Renato Terra	...	Alfredo, Ginetta's brother

Also Known As:

Rocco and His Brothers (UK) (USA)
Rocco et ses frères (France)

Runtime:

Spain:168 min (DVD edition) | Italy:177 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1962) | Finland:K-16 (uncut) (1985) | Italy:VM14 (restored version) | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved | West Germany:18 (w) | UK:15 (video rating) (1991) | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Bellagio, Como, Lombardia, Italy

Company:

Titanus

Trivia:

Despite the censorship problems - or perhaps because of them - the film was a big commercial success in its native Italy.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Il Mare

stunning neorrealism

Visconti at his peak. We are in the fifties, when Italian economy experiences a post-war boom. A Sicilian family arrives to Milan running from south's poverty. They dream with a new life at the industrial pole of the north. But Milan is not precisely a land of opportunities. Exploitation and xenophobia is the common destiny for those who came from south of the country. This film is a perfect sequel to "La Terra Tembla", one of the earliest Visconti's looks on Marxism. The hopes and lives of this five brother's family sink onto a pit at the same time as they destroy themselves. "Rocco and ..." is intensely played by the entire cast, including a young and delicate Alain Delon as the idealistic Rocco, an exquisite Annie Girardot as a prostitute trying to survive to her own hell and a terrific Renato Salvatori. But is the figure of the peasant mother, played superbly by Katina Paxinou, the most remarkable piece of this operatic story. Claudia Cardinale made some kind of Italian debut in this film. Nino Rota composes his most pitiful score and the black and white photography is stunning. The scene at the rooftop of Milan's Duomo is one of my all-time favorites. The American version is usually cut so try to find the original or some DVD restoration. A must see film.