Viva Italia: Rocco and His Brothers
March 27, 2024
Viva Italia! The Passion of Italian Cinema
Writer-director Visconti (The Leopard, Death in Venice) brings his characteristic visual lushness, operatic sweep and gritty realism to this family epic of Italy, north and south.
SIFF year-round passes and vouchers are not valid for this screening.
A mother (Katina Paxinou) and her grown sons leave their impoverished farm for the promise of a new life up in Milan. One son already established there is engaged to a beauty (Claudia Cardinale), and his family's arrival brings unwanted complications. As in an opera, the heart of the film is a passionate emotional triangle. Two of the brothers (Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori), who've become immersed in the world of boxing, have a volatile love relationship with an immigrant woman (Annie Giradot). She's drawn to both the brutish, tormented Salvatori and the tender, sensitive Delon. Can the better man win, or will the saintly Delon's way of sacrificing his own interests bring him down? Melodies by Fellini's music maestro Nino Rota. Luchino Visconti Best Director, Venice Film Festival.
- Director: Luchino Visconti
- Principal Cast: Katina Paxinou, Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Giradot
- Country: Italy
- Year: 1960
- Running Time: 180 min.