Product Description

From Luchino Visconti the master director of such classics as La terra trema, Bellissima, and The Leopard comes this epic study of family, sex, and betrayal. Alongside Fellini's La dolce vita and Antonioni's L'avventura, Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers [Rocco e i suoi fratelli] ushered Italian cinema into a new era, one unafraid to confront head-on the hypocrisies of the ruling class, the squalor in urban living, and the collision between generations. A tight-knit family moves from Italy's rural south to metropolitan Milan. The shock of the new is violent and immediate. A mother meddles. A whore beguiles. Brother faces brother. Blood-ties come undone. We pity beatific Rocco (played by the immortal Alain Delon in one of his greatest roles) and Nadia the harlot (Annie Girardot, capricious and scintillating) the modern condition has shattered their lives. An acknowledged influence on Coppola's The Godfather series (Nino Rota's exquisite Rocco score for Visconti led to working on The Godfather), Scorsese's Raging Bull, and many others, Rocco and His Brothers is a cinematic shock that erupts on the fault-line of emotion. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present one of Visconti's most revered films winner of the FIPRESCI Prize and the Special Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1960 newly restored to its original Italian-language three-hour form. SPECIAL FEATURES: 2 x disc edition containing a new anamorphic restoration of the film in its fully uncut original 3-hour Italian release version - New and improved English subtitles - Three hours of extras, including newsreels from 1960; lengthy interviews with cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, and stars of the film Annie Girardot and Claudia Cardinale; the original Italian trailer; and two documentaries - TF1's Les Coulisses du tournage, and RAI's hour-long Luchino Visconti - 40-page booklet featuring archival imagery, articles by Luchino Visconti (The Miracle That Gave Man Crumbs) and respected Italian film critic Guido Aristarco (The Earth Still Trembles), and a rare interview with Visconti (Questions for the Author) translated into English for the first time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10509 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-02-25
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: Black & White, PAL
• Original language: Italian
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 170 minutes

DVD Description
From Luchino Visconti the master director of such classics as La terra trema, Bellissima, and The Leopard comes this epic study of family, sex, and betrayal. Alongside Fellini's La dolce vita and Antonioni's L'avventura, Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers [Rocco e i suoi fratelli] ushered Italian cinema into a new era, one unafraid to confront head-on the hypocrisies of the ruling class, the squalor in urban living, and the collision between generations. A tight-knit family moves from Italy's rural south to metropolitan Milan. The shock of the new is violent and immediate. A mother meddles. A whore beguiles. Brother faces brother. Blood-ties come undone. We pity beatific Rocco (played by the immortal Alain Delon in one of his greatest roles) and Nadia the harlot (Annie Girardot, capricious and scintillating) the modern condition has shattered their lives. An acknowledged influence on Coppola's The Godfather series (Nino Rota's exquisite Rocco score for Visconti led to working on The Godfather), Scorsese's Raging Bull, and many others, Rocco and His Brothers is a cinematic shock that erupts on the fault-line of emotion. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present one of Visconti's most revered films winner of the FIPRESCI Prize and the Special Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1960 newly restored to its original Italian-language three-hour form. SPECIAL FEATURES: 2 x disc edition containing a new anamorphic restoration of the film in its fully uncut original 3-hour Italian release version - New and improved English subtitles - Three hours of extras, including newsreels from 1960; lengthy interviews with cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, and stars of the film Annie Girardot and Claudia Cardinale; the original Italian trailer; and two documentaries - TF1's Les Coulisses du tournage, and RAI's hour-long Luchino Visconti - 40-page booklet featuring archival imagery, articles by Luchino Visconti (The Miracle That Gave Man Crumbs) and respected Italian film critic Guido Aristarco (The Earth Still Trembles), and a rare interview with Visconti (Questions for the Author) translated into English for the first time.

Synopsis
Acclaimed director Luchino Visconti's (DEATH IN VENICE) powerful epic is one of the most internationally adored Italian films in history. The story of a poor family torn apart by lust and greed, ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS stars the gorgeous French actor Alain Delon as Rocco, a soft-spoken, idealistic young man who must deal with turmoil and competition when he and his 3 brothers set out to Milan in an attempt to make a fortune. The recipient of several prestigious awards, Visconti's drama is a highly affecting story of passion, greed, and family.

Customer Reviews

A Classic of 60's Italian Cinema, and a Great Presentation
Luchino Visconti is one of the great Italian directors whose career spanned everything from arguably the first neo-realist film ("Ossessione" made in the early 1940's) to his later more elaborate works (such as his great adaptation of Lampedusa's "The Leopard" and the extraordinary 4-hour "Ludwig" about the mad, misunderstood last King of Bavaria).

Visconti made this film in order to try and address the issue of the divide between the south and the north of Italy, but also (as the title hints) as a tribute to one of his favourite authors the German novelist Thomas Mann - the aforementioned title of "Rocco and his Brothers" echoes Mann's monumental biblical novel "Joseph and his Brothers", and the story of the decline of a family has some links to Mann's most famous novel "Buddenbrooks".

The film relates the fortunes of a family (a widowed mother and her 5 sons) who move from rural southern Italy to Milan and try to establish a new life in a strange city. Although it runs for nearly three hours (many of Visconti's movies are quite lengthy, and this is not the longest), the film enthrals because of great direction and performances (especially from Alain Delon in an early role as the eponymous brother, and Annie Girardot as the prostitute Nadia who has such a devasting effect on the family). Although no longer capable of provoking the scandal that accompanied its first release, there are several enormously powerful scenes here that have lost none of their shocking impact.

This is an excellent DVD release from the always reliable Masters of Cinema series - the film looks in great shape (unlike the previously very poor DVD transfers available) and is correctly presented, there is a substantial booklet with essays and interviews with Visconti, and a supplementary disk featuring some excellent subsidiary material (including an hour long RAI documentary on the life and work of Visconti, and a wonderful interview with Annie Girardot).

I can recommend Geoffrey Nowell-Smith's book on Visconti (now available in an updated edition) as an excellent companion to this film for anyone wanting to know more about Visconti, and Masters of Cinema have released a first-rate DVD presentation of another Visconti film "Bellissima".

Visconti at his best
42 years later the quality of the Maestro can be seen in this film. Many people forget that Alain Delon was a HUGE star at the time (1960) and it shows. The story of these set of poor brothers and an intelligent camera - in more cases better than Vittorio da Sica - shows the powerty and hopes of the Post-war Italy. The most powerfull scene is when the mock rape occurs.
A end of unsolved questions and reflection time makes this film a classic.
Recommended highly!

Great Movie
Great drama. I saw this movie about 20 years ago and it is still fresh in my mind. To see it in original Italian (subtitled in English) - a real treat.