ROCCO E I SUOI FRATELLI directed by Luchino Visconti (Italy, 1960)
Alain Delon is French but he gets through the whole of this three hour Italian movie without anyone noticing. He also manages to infiltrate the Parondi family who relocate from the south to Milan in search of work.
They might just as well all be foreigners considering the lukewarm welcome they receive.
Rocco, his battle axe of a mother (Kratrina Paxinou) and his four brothers are mostly reduced to menial jobs and a hand to mouth existence. You wouldn’t call their living standards grinding poverty but they certainly don’t find the nothern industrial city to be brimming over with oportunities.
Simone (Rinalto Salvatori) finds an outlet in a boxing club and wins a few fights but his lack of self discipline means he is destined to be just another would be champion who ‘ could have been a contender’.
Rocco is fit and healthy but he’s no Rocky so it comes as a surprise when he fares better in the ring than his brother. Continue reading
