Rocco and His Brothers

Two important films were made in Italy in 1960: Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers and Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. Both of these works, each with a different film language and artistic orientation, reinforced the vitality and possibilities of Italian cinema during the first half of the 1960s. In his film Visconti returned once again to his Sicilian theme twelve years after making The Earth Trembles, this time, however, conceived on an entirely different plane. He describes the story of a poor Sicilian family who, in search of better conditions, move to modern industrial Milan after the death of their father. In his film the director examines the moral and psychological permanence and transformation in each member of the family who, with varying degrees of success, try to come to terms with the inexorable pressure of tempestuous city life. While we are given convincing portraits of the mother and her five sons, the true drama is focused on Rocco and his brother Simon whose diverse characters are the source of tension and the tragic outcome. Simon is wild at heart and allows his keen instinct to dominate whereas Rocco is meditative and of a more passive nature. He is the one who finally takes responsibility for the family’s welfare. Visconti’s film assumes an important place in the history of cinema as an integral work created through the masterful use of all components relevant to film: the cast, the camera with its raw images of the hostile metropolis and penetrative scrutiny of the characters, and the music. Visconti encountered various problems with censorship during his career; Rocco and His Brothers was no exception. In 1993 the film was restored by Cineteca Nazionale Roma under the supervision of director of photography Giuseppe Rotunno. A new copy was made from the original negative with permission from Titanus Co.; the picture’s density and contrast were adjusted in the Cinecittą laboratories and a digital soundtrack was added. The copy was then restored to its original length with the addition of material edited out in the 1960s. Our screening of this film commemorates 25 years since Luchino Visconti’s death and the 95th anniversary of his birth. Blažena Urgošíková