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Rocco and His Brothers
Rocco e i suoi fratelli
1960 178 min France, Italy 18+
★8.3
Drama, Romance, Crime
Director: Luchino Visconti
Trailers
Description
When a impoverished widow’s family moves to the big city, two of her five sons become romantic rivals with deadly results.
Starring
Alain Delon
Actor
Renato Salvatori
Actor
Annie Girardot
Actor
Awards
Venice Film Festival 1960
— Special Award
Venice Film Festival 1960
— FIPRESCI Prize
BAFTA 1962
— Best Picture
BAFTA 1962
— Best International Actress
Venice Film Festival 1960
— FIPRESCI Prize
Key opinion
Visconti's epic drama is widely regarded as a masterpiece of transition, moving from pure neorealism toward a more intellectual, Dostoevskian tragedy. Through the lens of a family's migration and disintegration, the film is celebrated for its emotional depth and structural ambition, though its dense, multi-layered approach leaves some viewers debating the necessity of its episodic scope.
| Acting | The cast, particularly Renato Salvatori, Alain Delon, and Annie Girardot, deliver masterful, nuanced performances that anchor the film's emotional weight. | |
| Theme | Visconti expertly integrates profound social awareness with literary, Dostoevskian subtexts, elevating the family narrative to the scale of a Greek tragedy. | |
| Emotion | The film functions as a monumental, deeply resonant emotional experience that effectively portrays the collapse of familial bonds under the pressure of industrial urban migration. | |
| Screenplay | The episodic structure, which divides the film into segments for each brother, is appreciated by many for its architectural ambition, while others feel it creates an uneven focus compared to the core rivalry between Rocco and Simone. | |
| Pacing | The film's three-hour runtime and contemplative, intellectual pace are praised by cinephiles as essential to its weight, though some find the pacing demanding or occasionally redundant. |