Good start, but then it gets ruined

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

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.

Katina Paxinou is Mama Parondi. She moves with her four sons from an impoverished village in southern Italy to the big city of Milan in the north. Three sons -- Salvatore (Simone), Delon (Rocco), and Focas (Vincenzo) have varied careers trying to make a living in what's supposed to be an anomic atmosphere. The family falls apart, a bit like "The Grapes of Wrath." It's a gripping film once in gets going but it still induces fatigue, almost three hours long, loud and theatrical, and filmed in gritty black and white. Some reviewers have mentioned the beauty of the images but it got by me, except for some startling shots during a climactic stabbing. Almost all the settings are drab and smoky. The night scenes were shot at night with stark but minimal lighting. When a man rapes a woman they roll around in the mud and belt one another, although how a man who is supposed to be drunk, enraged, surrounded by horrified witnesses, freezing, and splashed with mud can rape anybody -- well, it's beyond me.Delon is young, handsome, naive, loyal, and generous. I guess he represents the virtues and values of the sunny South. "You must have faith," he tells Annie Girardot, the hooker he has fallen in love with. "Faith in what?" "In everything, everybody." Wouldn't it be pretty to think so, to quote someone of a tougher temperament.The acting is okay. Delon certainly looks the part of the unspoiled naif. Katina Paxinou as the queen of this brood is always on the edge of frenzy, dashing around and running off at the hands, full of territorial pride and prejudice. The best role may be that of Renato Salvatore as the good boxer who doesn't quite have the necessary speed but who is ready to murder anyone who gets too close to the girl friend he hasn't been with in two years, Girardot. He's the son who most clearly illustrates the kind of corrupted behavior the tentacular city generates in weaker personalities. "He had good roots but he was poisoned by the herbs." Although, come to think of it, there's no way of being sure that the same tragic confrontations wouldn't have taken place in the sunny South. Maybe the South is supposed to "stand for something," a kind of state of mind, of mechanical solidarity or a parallel existence like the Chinatown in "Chinatown." The director, Luchino Visconti, was born into an aristocratic and very wealthy family in Milan, so he must know the city, but he brings us down into the murky depths of gymnasiums and cheap cafés. That Visconti was gay had nothing to do with it, but that he belonged to the Communist Party probably did. Nino Rota's fine score anticipates that of "The Godfather."I saw this when it was released and found it enthralling. But I'm beginning to wonder if my patience for long, drawn-out dramas is growing thinner with age. I think it might have been cut by about an hour without bleeding to death.

As a growing fan of foreign cinema, I wanted to see this one too, even though its long runtime of nearly 3 hours caused me to hesitate a bit. But the urge to see it was stronger than the hesitation.The two best things about this movie were cinematography (showing us good old Italy, how it was more than half-century ago) and acting.This is a strange film. It tells the tale of a big rural family from Italy and their adaptation to city life; it has boxing scenes (not properly something I wished to see); it has the story of a prostitute with whom the brothers Rocco and Simone share a passion; there are certain scenes of brutal violence (physical aggression, rape and even a cold-blooded homicide).In my opinion, this film doesn't have that much to justify such a long runtime. Its plot could be told in nearly half of that time. It's slow and overlong. I don't mind about the slow pace, I can handle that. But this one is so long that even if it moved at a faster pace, I don't think that would make much difference.Concerning the cast, Alain Delon is great as Rocco. Same about Renato Salvatori as Simone, Annie Girardot as Nadia (the prostitute), Katina Paxinou as Rosaria, Spiros Focás as Vincenzo, Max Cartier as Ciro and Rocco Vidolazzi as Luca.

'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 Parondis 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 concluding 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 Alzheimers and has no memory of her former life.