Rocco and
His Brothers, written – with six others – and directed by Luchino Visconti
9.4 out of
10
Rocco and
His Brothers aka Rocco E I Suoi Fratelli is one of the best motion pictures
ever made, included on The New York Times ‘Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list,
one of the most honorable:
the cast is
superb, nec plus ultra, with Alain Delon in a memorable role, that of Rocco
Parondi, Renato Salvatori as one of his brothers, the antihero of the narrative,
Simone Parondi, Annie Girardot as Nadia and a spectacular ensemble, directed by
one of the best directors ever, Luchino Visconti.
Rocco and
His Brothers, supervised, cared for, instructed, managed to some extent by
their mother, Rosaria aka the excellent Katina Paxinou, move from the south to Milano
– even in the politics of Italy, the predominant League originates from what
used to be the Northern League, an outfit advocating the separation of the much
more affluent North from the poorer South…today they just want to make a ‘big,
beautiful wall’ to keep migrants out, in the manner of Trump, under the command
of Salvini, named by The Economist of this week The Most Dangerous Man of
Europe.
The Parondi
family is poor – when it snows, they are all glad, as if angels had just
descended on earth, because it means that all five brothers will have work for
the day, shoveling snow, which the Milanese do not like to see hanging around
we hear…later, one of them would marry Ginetta aka the iconic Claudia Cardinale
and move out, trying to help when he can, albeit when Simone would get in
serious trouble, which is his manner, only Rocco would be ready, willing and
perhaps able to help.
Simone is a
boxer and he finds Nadia who is what we call today a sex worker and in the age
of insensitive appellations, they used prostitute, played by the phenomenal
Annie Girardot, a girl that would come between Rocco and Simone in a tragic way
and she would suffer terribly for it, at a time when a man could think of
telling a woman, his girlfriend in this case, to follow his instructions in the
most absurd way…not that proud, assertive, admirable Nadia would easily give in
to ‘orders or requests’, on the contrary, she would be torn between her love
for the man who says she must leave him and the prospect of returning to the
one she had been with for a while.
Simone and
Nadia go out for some time, although she makes it clear that she is independent,
modern for her time, indeed, she would surely be at the forefront of women’s
emancipation movements today, and after some time, she decides that Simone is no
good – she would outrage his mother by stating it loud and perhaps too clear
that this man is no good, he cannot even steal – there is a rather disgusting
scene, when he is invited in the shop where Rocco works and well treated, but
he decides to steal a shirt…
A long
period passes and Rocco meets with Nadia and the two start seeing each other,
get closer and eventually they fall in love and gossiping men mock Simone on
account of his younger brother seeing ‘a woman who takes clients near the lake’,
and the boxer becomes so furious and vengeful that he gathers his loathsome
mates, corners the innocent sibling and his lover, his villains immobilize him
while the monster rapes the helpless woman, who keeps shouting for her partner
to help and save her.
After this,
Simone provokes his brother, who has a demeaning attitude when Nadia comes to
him and shows no support, overwhelmed as he is with his own trauma – he should
have considered her above anything else – and the two brothers’ fight between themselves,
because Rocco is not afraid, albeit he has an attitude that is straight out of
Dostoyevsky.
One thinks
of the Russian genius and his characters, bent on self-destruction – Simone –
willing to take any pain and find redemption in helping others, with an
incredible, angelic manner – Rocco – determined to help his brother above and beyond
what common people would do, for when all this rape and fight are over, he
tells Nadia that she has to return to Simone, because he has no other way out
and there is no salvation for his bother except through her and with her
support, making her mad and taking her on the verge of suicide.
Meanwhile,
to cover the astonishing debts accumulated by this devil of a brother, Rocco
takes it upon himself – to repeat the similitude: in a Dostoyevskian manner –
to pay the immense four hundred thousand lire and get on a contract to become a
boxer for years, in spite of the fact that he had repeatedly declared he does
not want to box, does not like it, but he is ready to destroy his life for
Simone, who had raped the woman that Rocco loves.
Pure Dostoyevsky!
In an
Italian interpretation, evidently, with many moments of glory, that we have
come to know and love, with big quarrels between protagonists who shout at each
other, complaining, abusing, declaring enmity and then embracing and crying
together in absolute harmony.
Alas, this is
also a Greek Tragedy of the most exhilarating sort, for someone is sacrificed
to the God of War or Fury, and the viciousness, vengeful spirit has an unquenchable
thirst for blood.
This glorious,
dramatic film rewards viewers with two hours and fifty-seven minutes of chef d’oeuvre
material.
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