Jackson Booth-Millard This Italian film is one I read about in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, the title made it obvious what the main subject was, but the story I did not know, I hoped it would be good, directed by Francesco Rosi (Christ Stopped at Eboli). Basically in southern Italy, the matriarch of the Giuranna family dies in the farmhouse, her husband summons their three sons from Rome to prepare for the funeral, each of whom are facing difficult personal problems. The first son, Raffaele (Philippe Noiret), is a courtroom judge presiding over a terrorism case, at risk of assassination he is in constant fear for his life. The second son, Rocco (Vittorio Mezzogiorno), is a religious man who lives in Naples, he works as a counsellor at a correctional institute for boys, hoping to achieve his dream of helping troubled teenagers. The third son, Nicola (Michele Placido), lives in Turin and works as a factory worker, he is involves in a labour dispute and his marriage is failing. Each of the men grieve for the loss of their mother in their own way, while also grappling with the other emotional issues that are pressing on them. The three brothers encounter the past and contemplate things that may come: Raffaele imagines himself dying, Rocco dreams of helping youths of Naples out of violence, drugs and corruption, and Nicola pictures himself and his wife and embracing, meanwhile the old man and his granddaughter take care of the farm and grieve together. Also starring Charles Vanel as Donato Giuranna and Andréa Ferréol as Raffaele's Wife. I understood the main plot of the story with a family of three brothers and the father brought together for the funeral of the mother, but I agree with critics it is perhaps overloaded with other topics about age gaps, marriage trouble, terrorism, politics, and of course death, overall it certainly engages you enough however that makes an interesting enough drama. Worth watching!

voacor I just watched this film with my wife on a Netflix DVD. It is a very slow-paced film, but it captivates you and does what a great film should always do-- it transports you to another world and allows you to enter the lives of other people. In this case, we see the world through the eyes of three brothers, each of whom has long ago moved away from the impoverished village in southern Italy where they grew up. Each has taken on a distinct vocation-- The eldest is a respected judge, a member of the establishment, who, in spite of threats from terrorists, continues to carry out his duty. The middle brother is a liberal, charitable man who is trying to help kids in trouble and whose heart bleeds for the wretched of the earth. The youngest is a Don Juan, who migrated to the northern city of Turin to find work and got mixed up in the radical labor movements that are close to, if not part of, the very terrorist organization the elder brother is trying to stop.The three brothers engage in conversation about these matters and we see their thoughts in dreams and flashbacks. But what really grounds the film is the old man, their father, and his remembrances of his recently departed wife. His tenderness with his granddaughter also gives the movie a sweet touch. In the end, this film leaves you richer for the experience of having watched it.

jotix100 The disturbing opening scene is a nightmare that Rocco Giuranna is having. The rats that are scavenging a trash site seem to herald what he and his two brothers will face as the three come together because the death of their mother. Rocco is a social worker living in a state reformatory where he is in charge of young boys that are in the institution to be re-educated. Unfortunately, they will probably will go to be hard criminals when they are released from the Naples correctional facility.Raffaele, the older brother, is a judge in Rome. He has been asked to preside over an important case coming to trial that involves local terrorists. Italy was living harsh days at the time and judges were the target for paid assassins or revolutionaries with an agenda for eliminating those that dared to speak against them. The upcoming trial has a profound effect on Raffaele's wife, who knows it probably means the death of her husband.The third brother, Nicola, is a factory worker. Like his brothers, he fled the poor South of Italy in search for a better future in Torino. What he finds is unhappiness as he rebels against the firm he feels is enslaving him and his co-workers. His marriage has suffered because his wife has cheated on him and they are separated.It is at this junction that all three brothers are summoned to come home as their mother has died. Donato, the older father, is lost, as he ponders what is going to become of him. His memories of happier times, with the woman he adored, keep flooding back to him as his three sons come home to mourn for their loss. The three brothers, in turn, are haunted by their own memories of their present lives and their youth in the small town in Puglia before they left home.Francesco Rosi, adapted Andrei Platonov's novel "The Third Son", together with Tonino Guerra, one of the best writers in the Italian cinema. Mr. Rosi, a director who shows an affinity for presenting ordinary people in difficult situations in their lives, scored a big success with this film. He knows these characters. The director makes an enormous contribution in the way he deals with the emotions of the principals in this film about the love of the land, on the one hand of Donato, the father, and the restlessness of the three sons that abandoned their birth place in search of a better living. Rosi's triumph is in showing us that ultimately, it's Donato, the father, the one that stayed behind who is the one that lived a better life than their three sons.The director achieves a triumph in the way he directed the four principals in the film. Philippe Noiret, Michele Placido, and Vittorio Mezzogiorno do an excellent job in bringing to life, Raffaele, Nicola and Rocco. It is however Charles Vanel, the veteran French actor who stays with the viewer because of his exquisite portrayal of the older Donato. Mr. Vanel hardly utters a word throughout the movie, yet, his presence is so powerful that at times one tends to forget the others. Mr. Vanel's Donato is one of the best creations in his long film career in France.Pasqualino DiSantis' cinematography captures the essence of what Francesco Rosi was looking for. The director and his photographer were well attuned indeed. Ruggero Mastroianni's film editing shows once more his elegant style of putting the material together. Francesco Rosi is the one that brought all the elements together in this dramatic and satisfactory film.

RayPacia "Tre fratelli" is a most evocative film that poses to the viewer fundamental questions of life, relationships, and how both can unknowingly be lost.Raffaele, Nicola, and Rocco, the three brothers, had emigrated from their hometown in Puglia. Raffaele, the judge, although outwardly sedate, is consumed by paranoiac fear for his life. That fear puts a strain on his marital life. While Raffaele lives in fear, Nicola dwells over his poor marriage. His pain is so terrible not only because he still has feelings for his wife, but also because of Marta, his daughter. As Marta and her father were driving in the car back to Puglia, there was an intense chemistry between the two. The love he felt for his daughter was genuine and pronounced. Rocco, the third brother, is somewhat of a radical. That's almost expected; he runs a reform school, a very tiring job. He clashes with his brother, Raffaele, who fears that he is one of the terrorists that would kill him. "Tre fratelli" is a very ironic title. The brothers are not at all similar. They do, however, have on thing in common. They're all unhappy people.Donato, the father, is in a world completely different from that of his sons. He's not the most loquacious person. However, he is a man of tremendous faith. He has no part of the Northern/Southern Italian class conflicts. By remaining at home, has retained his values. That's not to say that anyone who moves away loses his values. But, in the brothers' case, they had truly forgotten the "paese" that they had left.In the film, there was an underlying theme of cultural change. As the boundaries between the North and South became less defined, so would the bucolic life of the South that could so easily impart values upon its people. Marta and Donato's relationship grows out of that nostalgic reflection on days gone by. Marta's presence is crucial. She brings out her grandfather's character, so representative of traditional familial values, which otherwise would have been drowned by the bickering of the brothers. With Donato's flashbacks, it becomes evident that Marta reminds him so much of his deceased wife; both could live their life in a simplistic, yet joyful way. The technique of flashback clearly enriches the message of director Francesco Rosi. Sadly, the viewer becomes predisposed to the feeling that those traditional values will die with time. In one of the more important instances of flashback, Donato recalls the time when he was at the beach with his wife, and they found her ring. In its unadulterated form, that scene conveyed pure joy. The final scene in which Donato held the ring was incredibly symbolic. As he held it, he came to the bittersweet understanding that he had lived his life in search of happiness, had found it. No matter how much longer he had to live, he would know that he had lived a good life. Regional and class conflicts obviously manifest themselves in the relationships of the three brothers. Before they even realized it, they were deprived of the values and maturing experiences that their father treasured so dearly. When they went home to Puglia, they truly didn't go home. That small town had ceased to be their home a long time ago. But, Rome, Turin, and Naples were no longer true homes to the brothers, either. To truly be home, one must first know what he truly desires.At the end of the mother's funeral, while mourning their mother, it seems as if the brothers understand the essence of their family, as envisioned by their father and mother. Paradoxically, it takes the death of their mother to catalyze a rebirth in the lives of the three brothers."Tre fratelli" is obviously not acclaimed because of a climactic plot. It is Francesco Rosi's masterful portrayal of two conflicting perceptions of life that are so very clear to the viewer. By juxtaposing the relationships between the three brothers and that of Donato and Marta, Rosi's theme is magnified, reminding the viewer that we should all have an idea of the life we wish to lead. Let's note, however, that Donato does not live in a world of ignorant bliss; he is not naive. He merely had a clear perception of his true, human desires. The end of "Tre fratelli" is quite hopeful. It shows the viewer that no matter how much we isolate ourselves, we can always return. The brothers returned home as strangers, but it's obvious that in Puglia, their memories of the past were ignited, beseeching them to return to way that beatifies the fundamental joy in life, a joy that is not excluseive to southern Italy. We can live happily anywhere. As "Tre fratelli" so heart-wrenchingly reminds us, our lives can slip by quickly, yet without meaning. However, by looking inside of ourselves, we can always regain that which we have lost.