Rocco and His Brothers
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Movie Reviews of Rocco and His Brothers
Movie Review: A very complex movie; hard to describe or rate
Summary: 4 Stars
"Rocco and His Brothers" is certainly a grand movie. The acting is simply superb, especially that of Annie Girardot - her character is passionate, erotic and strong, exactly the kind of woman who can rouse such fatal feelings and change fates even though she's a prostitute.I especially admire Visconti for being able to create such an accurate and vivid portrait of Italians. I could never understand their passions, their love-hate relationships, their family ties, honesty and betrayal being so close together. Which comes first - family or justness? In short, I don't think I'll ever be able to understand the way they lead their lives and their strange outlook on life. To an ordinary viewer, like me, most of the characters, ESPECIALLY Rocco, seem to be insane...
You'd probably like to know why I didn't give this truly unforgettable movie 5 stars. The answer is simple: it was difficult to watch. Painful almost. I found myself wishing I could kill one of the main characters more than half a time. There was no relief of tension. The movie was quite long. And - I simply cannot understand the way Italians live and treat each other. It's beyond me.
I'm glad I saw this movie; it had a great impact on me. However, it was so very 'heavy' I won't watch it again for a long time... but I will. Sometime.
Movie Review: Great movie, Good DVD transfer, No extra
Summary: 4 Stars
5 star movie, 4 star DVD transfer, 0 star bonus feature as there is none, not even a trailer. Image Entertainment has good intention and concept as Criterion but lack of extra effort.Movie Review: Excellent acting but tale of misguided filial obligation doesn't ring true
Summary: 3 Stars
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
'Rocco and his Brothers' begins as the Parondi clan move from their rustic life in Lucania, in the southern part of Italy, to the bustling northern metropolis of Milan. Head of the clan is the mother, Rosaria, a loud, obnoxious woman who can be best described as a worry wart. She brings her four sons, Rocco and Simone (in their early 20s), Ciro, a teenager, and Luca (about eight), to visit Vincenzo, the older brother who is engaged to Ginetta (played by Claudia Cardinale before she became famous). The expectation is that Vincenzo has arranged for his in-laws to put his mother and siblings up until they can obtain permanent lodging. Unfortunately, Rosaria and Ginetta's mother don't get along and Vincenzo is forced to find other quarters for them. Vincenzo consults a maintenance man who advises him that the family can move into an expensive apartment, stop paying the rent after a month and have the City of Milan then put them into decent housing since anyone who has officially been evicted, must be provided with social services by the City.
'Rocco' is divided into five segments, focusing on each of the brothers. The first segment involves Vincenzo whose character appears in stark contrast to his younger siblings. Whereas the newly arrived Parondi's are very unsophisticated (they've never seen snow before) and regarded as country bumpkins by the residents of Milan, Vincenzo is a virtual cosmopolitan. While he has a small part in the film, Vincenzo serves two important purposes: 1) He is held up as less stable than the the younger and more together domestic pillar, Ciro, in that he is never able to facilitate a reconciliation between his mother and in-laws and ends up marrying Ginetta, more out of obligation than complete love, after she accidentally becomes pregnant; and 2) He ends up bumping into Nadia, the prostitute, in the hallway of the family's apartment building, introducing her to his other brothers.
The next segment focuses on Simone who is the film's evil antagonist. All good melodramas need a good villain and Simone fits the bill to a tee. He dates Nadia for only a short time before she becomes sick of him; despite dumping him, in Simone's mind, Nadia has become his possession. Despite his professed love for Nadia, Simone has no guilt feelings about seducing the cleaning store manager where Rocco works. This is after he borrows (without permission) an expensive shirt from the cleaners to go on his date with Nadia. What's more he steals a broach from the store manager and gives it to Nadia as a gift; only to have it returned by Nadia to Rocco with a message to Simone that she doesn't want to see him ever again. For a short time, Simone has some success as a local boxer but soon falls from grace.
The next segment focuses on Rocco who can best be described as an 'enabler'. At the end of the film, Ciro describes Rocco as a 'saint' but criticizes him for forgiving everyone for their transgressions. Rocco's character is the linchpin of the film and he's not a convincing character at all. At first, he wants nothing to do with boxing as he regards it as sleazy. Rocco eventually wants to return to the South where his kind-hearted nature might flourish. After joining the Army, he runs into Nadia and they develop a hot and heavy relationship. This leads to the most dramatic moment in the film, when Simone rapes Nadia in front of Rocco out of jealousy and Rocco in turn orders Nadia to 'go back' to Simone out of some kind of misguided filial obligation. If you believe anyone would have been so attached to his brother after spending so much time trying to show a downtrodden prostitute a new life (and actually ending up transforming her), then perhaps I can sell you the Brooklyn Bridge. I know it's supposed to be an example of a 'family tragedy', but I just don't believe anyone would have done such a thing, especially after he's a direct witness to his girlfriend being raped. Equally unbelievable is the subsequent scene where Nadia is about to spit in Simone's face and tells him she'll never go back to him--and then ends up kissing him and agrees to be his concubine.
The next to last segment focuses on Ciro who is held up as the only well-adjusted brother in the clan. He is in effect, Rocco's better half. After Simone steals thousands of dollars from his former manager, Rocco (now a successful boxer himself), has his manager guarantee money to pay Simone's debts in exchange for a contract which will obligate him to fight for another 10 years. After Simone kills Nadia, Rocco keeps playing the part of the enabler by insisting that everyone in the family keep quiet. But Ciro wisely informs the police who pick Simone up for Nadia's murder. Ciro serves to restore order to the out of kilter Parondi clan. It's Ciro who also wisely tells Luca, in the final segment, that even returning to the south, the supposed fount of innocence, is not a panacea to life's problems since things are constantly changing and no one can predict the outcome of what life has in store for us.
'Rocco and his Brothers' is very well-acted coupled with excellent cinematography. It should have all the ingredients of a masterpiece but doesn't. That's because its main character is not believable. Sure there are plenty of people like Rocco who would bail their brothers out financially even with the knowledge they had done something wrong; but to order their true love back into a destructive relationship with their brother after he just raped her, that's something I couldn't believe.
One sad addendum: Annie Giardot (Nadia) who was married to Renato Salvatori (Simone) in real life, is still alive but has Alzheimer's and has no memory of her former life.
Movie Review: The Boxer, the Saint and the Prostitute
Summary: 3 Stars
Alternately striking and tedious, "Rocco and His Brothers" is an awkward blend of social realism and operatic melodrama. Presumably an attempt to dramatize the social consequences of Italy's internal Diaspora from South to North, the film suffers from the contradictory aims of trying to make one family socially typical while also individually compelling. All of the characters are at one level "types," whose dramatic function is to reveal aspects of social transformation. Most, however, are also burdened with "individual" character touches that seem both contrived and overwrought.Nowhere is this more the case than the central conflict between the unbelievably saintly Rocco (Alain Delon) and his wastrel brother Simone (Renato Salvatori) over the love of a prostitute, Nadia (Annie Girardot). The hackneyed triangular situation is compelling thanks to the strength of the performances and the larger-than-life passions it unleashes. Unfortunately, none of it feels very "Realistic," in the sense of revealing aspects of experience through observed behavior and detail. We are far too aware of the broad brush strokes for the situation to work as anything other than heavy-handed, if undeniably effective, manipulation. The emotions are so out of keeping with the film's social goals as to tear the film apart. Or, to put it differently, there are no doubt many love triangles among the working class, and some may well result in the tragedies "Rocco" dramatizes. It is simply that this situation as depicted is not convincing as typical, nor does it reveal as much about social reality as it does about the filmmaker's desires and ambitions.
Visconti was one of the "Big Three" of Italian NeoRealism (the others being Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio de Sica). His work usually demonstrated a tension between his social realist interests (he was a member of the Italian Communist party) and his experience as a world renown opera director steeped in the Western aesthetic tradition. (He was also a Duke with a family lineage going back to Charlemagne's era.) These contradictions are at work in varying degree in all of his work, but are rarely as apparent as in "Rocco." The film is never anything less than a committed work of art. It may not make much sense, but it certainly isn't sloppy or shoddy. It is, however, almost fatally uneven, the perhaps inevitable result of a director uncertain where he wanted to go. Visconti's greatest work, "The Leopard," his next film but one after "Rocco," finally resolved that question. So when can we look forward to that appearing on DVD?
Movie Review: Nice try
Summary: 3 Stars
"Rocco and his Brothers" is one of Visconti's most famous films, yet it seems to fall flat. Four brothers and their mother journey to northern Italy to join their brother Vincenzo. While there, one amazing even after another occurs to test the bonds of the family.The film is divided into five sections, one for each of the brothers yet the film really centers around Rocco and Simone. Simone plays the stereotypical bad boy. He comes to the north and begins to see a prostitute and to steal. His criminal impulses lead him to rape his ex-girlfriend (who at the time is dating Rocco) which seems completely out of character. Yes he has a bad streak but the scene seems contrived. He rapes the girl to hurt noth her and Rocco and then proceeds to punch Rocco to the point of unconsciousness. Up until this point he seems more of a rebel and than suddenly he turns into a hard-core criminal. Rocco's character isn't much better. He is depicted in a saintly matter and while this is purposeful, he saintliness is so extreme that one gets aggravated with the character. He constantly forgives Simone and constantly "turns his other cheek". In short, all the character are extremely stereotyped and are manipulated to fit the script instead of being believable. Visconti just tries to cram too much into one film and in doing so loses track of his characters.
The only thing that saves the film in any way is the acting. The two main brothers, Simone and Rocco, and Nadia are all played remarkabley well inspite of the despicable script. Annie Girardot who plays Nadia puts in the best performance and makes the viewer wonder if she is the only sane person in all of Italy.