gavin6942 Having recently been uprooted to Milan, Rocco (Alain Delon) and his four brothers each look for a new way in life when a prostitute (Annie Girardot) comes between Rocco and his brother Simone (Renato Salvatori).Censors demanded that four scenes be cut or the film would be confiscated and the producer prosecuted; however, after negotiations, producer Goffredo Lombardo agreed to darken the critical scenes within the film with filters; two of these darkened scenes were omitted entirely.This attempt at censorship may be the most interesting part of the film. Yes, it is celebrated. Yes, Roger Ebert loved it. And it is certainly worthy of praise. But it does run long and is not overly interesting. A great film from a technical standpoint, but not particularly entertaining.

Knox Morris Rocco and His Brothers, one of the greatest emotional experiences of all time, is a film of overwhelming ferocity and love. Luchino Visconti, the Italian director who helmed this masterwork, lays down the most naked essentials of the family drama, and stretches the potentially stagy narrative to a sprawling 3 hours of visceral understanding. The movie follows the silent rivalry of siblings in their transition to adulthood, taking time to carefully dissect the moral crises of each. Innocence is counterweighted by passion and love by jealousy. Visconti moves his camera in numerous long takes to, without monologue or melodramatic whines, detail the tragedy of a family fighting poverty, repression, and a loyalty to each other enforced by their protective and religious mother. The soundtrack by Nino Rota, which evokes his later masterwork The Godfather, underscores each moment of heartwrenching sincerity with organic passion and Italian prominence. The music never excesses and always excels, and never does it interrupt powerful moments; silence is used on numerous occasions to great impact. The actors Delon and Salvatori, at their undeniable best, are completely believable in their respective roles and are totally effective. Overall, this film is essentially every aspect of film extended to its highest possible quality. See it, prepare for a 3 hour runtime but don't expect to be disappointed.

MartinHafer 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.

Cosmoeticadotcom Aside from its great portrayal of family life (and, via Rocco, all the hypocrisies and evils therein), the film is also great study in the effects of World War Two on rejiggering the Italian lifestyle, especially with expanded urbanization. In the end, the three older brothers cannot deal with the move from the pastoral life of their youth. Ciro, who is easily the most ethically grounded brother (despite Rocco's constantly being called saintly), can do so, and the film ends with the jury out on young Luca. This is heightened by the fact that we are not shown any images, within the film, of the family's rural roots- not domestic nor geographic. It, as the past always is, is another country. But, many poor critics have mistakenly called the film a 'tragedy,' when it clearly is not, for a tragedy demands a sense of grandeur or greatness, and there are no such people in this film. Instead, Rocco And His Brothers shows us dirt poor 'real' people scraping to survive (in stark contrast to Visconti's campier melodramas on the rich and powerful), and one of the consequences of survival is that only the fittest make it. Thus, Nadia, Simone, and one suspects Rocco, are doomed. But this fact is far more related to the film's Neo-Realist roots than its melodramatic faux 'tragedy.' And that all this is done so deftly, with an economy of narrative setup, is a testament to both the writing and acting in selling what could be a really bad cliché.Rocco And His Brothers is a great film, which only deepens upon successive viewings (in meaning and complexity) just as its nominal successor (Hannah And Her Sisters) was a quarter century later, but for the same reason, achieved by different means: it takes one into another (past) time and era seamlessly- making any inquiry into what mis-en-scene is seem silly; and in doing so proves it is timeless. And that is usually never too far from greatness.