DVD Review: Rocco and His Brothers (1960)

A landmark in world cinema, Rocco and His Brothers marries the neo-realism of Luchino Visconti's early films with the grand, operatic vision of his later masterpieces.  The story centres around the Parondi family who leave their home in rural, southern Italy for the bright lights of Milan.  Brothers Rocco (Alain Delon), Simone (Renato Salvatori), Ciro (Max Cartier) and Luca (Rocco Vidolazzi) arrive amidst eldest sibling Vincenzo's (Spiros Focas) engagement to kindly Ginetta (Claudia Cardinale), whereupon their fiery Mama (Katina Paxinou) - suspicious of all beautiful women - squabbles with their future in-laws and gets everyone turfed out on the street. 

As the family struggle to survive in the harsh city, Rocco moves from dry-cleaning to military service and finally boxing, giving every penny of his hard-earned cash to his demanding mother ("If you have anything left - send it.  You can't spend it anyway").  Meanwhile, feckless dilettante Simone sinks lower and lower.  Things come to a head when both brothers fall for sultry prostitute Nadia (Annie Girardot) and the family unravels amidst robbery, rape and murder. 

Alain Delon excels in the role that - alongside Rene Clement's Plein Soleil (1960) - made him a superstar, but Renato Salvatori and Annie Girardot (married in real life!) deliver performances of equally remarkable depth and realism.  Visconti may have been an aristocrat, but he was also a Marxist and this film reflects his preoccupation with the injustices endured by the poor.  He tackles prejudice (Immigrants mocked as coming "from the land of layabouts") and satirises Milan's welfare programme (the Parondis are advised: "rent a house, avoid paying, get evicted and then city hall will look after you.")

Family provides the other dominant theme.  From Mama Parondi's relentless demands and blindness to Simone's faults, to saintly Rocco's willingness to sacrifice everything to redeem his brother's soul - Visconti portrays family as both a nurturing and destructive force.  Even after Simone rapes Nadia before his eyes, Rocco begs her to return to his brother (the sexual politics may be the one area where the film has dated).  The rape and murder scenes are harrowing, yet baroquely cinematic set-pieces (Note how Nadia extends her arms to form the shape of a cross) enhanced by Nino Rota's doom-laden score (which secured him composing duties on The Godfather (1972) - a film that draws from Rocco and His Brothers in a big way). 

Eureka's 2-disc DVD (originally announced as three discs, now minus the soundtrack CD) includes fascinating newsreels that capture the glamour of Italy's film industry in the Sixties, a trailer ("featuring no dialogue from this controversial film... a battle against false moralism and misunderstanding"), two fine documentaries (the French "Les Coulisses du Tournage" and Italian "Luchino Visconti"), plus substantial interviews with a sprightly Annie Girardot and Claudia Cardinale (still looking fantastic), who reunited with Visconti and Delon for the magnificent The Leopard (1963).