Rocco and His Brothers

This is only the third foreign film I’ve ever seen. The other two were “La Cage Aux Folles” which The Birdcage was adapted from (and the original is ten times better, I think) and an obscure movie called “Orphee” that aired in the 1990’s on TBS late one night. So if my opinion is simplistic, it’s because I haven’t done that many reviews, let alone foreign films.

It is the story of five brothers as they adjust to the city life of Milan after the country life of Southern Italy. Each brother has his own story, but it is the stories of Rocco and Simone that supply the drama and suspense of the tale.

Simone becomes a boxer and falls in love with Nadia, who is soon finished with him. Her rejection changes him and as the film progresses, his career suffers. Not that Simone was an upright character to begin with. One of the highlights of the film is when Simone visits the drycleaners where Rocco works and steals a shirt. Later he has the audacity to return it and while seducing the widowed owner, he lifts her diamond brooch while she is wearing it. Rocco enlists and after he returns from service, he meets Nadia, and they fall in love. Simone discovers their relationship and seeks revenge with tragic results.

The movie was intensely dramatic. The characters were intelligent, multidimensional and likeable. Their struggle to balance life, romance and family is what gives this movie its brilliance. The dialogue, even in subtitles, was great. In watching this movie, you have to keep in mind that it was Italian, and made in 1960, when the pace was slower in movies and actors were a little more dramatic. Even though the drama was a bit over the top for today’s standards, I still found myself caught up in the story of the devotion these brothers had for their family.

Some of the situations were amusing, like the one that opens the movie. Vincenzo, the oldest brother is at his engagement party with his future in-laws in Milan when his mother and four brothers show up to live with him. The future mother in-law immediately resents the intrusion and the fact that now Vincenzo has to take care of his family and her daughter. She throws them all out of the house. Vincenzo seeks the advice of a friend who convinces him to rent an apartment and pay for it a few months until the money runs out. When they are evicted they can get government housing because, as he puts it, “Milan does not let anyone live in the streets.”

It has enough light moments to keep it from being too somber. The sets were great, the cinematography wonderful, the actors engaging. It took me six months to see this movie and I must say it was well worth the wait.