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Released by: Eureka/Masters of Cinema
Released on: March 14, 2016
Directed by: Luchino Visconti
Cast: Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot, Katina Paxinou, Spiros Focas, Max Cartier, Rocco Vidolazzi, Claudia Cardinale
Year: 1960
The Movie:
Rocco Parondi (Alain Delon) is the youngest of five brothers from the south of Italy. In the post-WWII years, northerners are accumulating wealth through industry while southerners starve. To get in on the action, Rocco, three of his brothers—Simone (Renato Salvatori), Ciro (Max Cartier), and Luca (Rocco Vidolazzi)—and his mother, Rosario (Katina Paxinou), travel to Milan to join eldest brother Vincenzo (Spiros Focas). Vincenzo is engaged to the beautiful Ginetta (Claudia Cardinale), but taking in his entire family puts a strain on their relationship. Despite the tension between Rosario and Vincenzo's fiancé, Vincenzo and Ginetta marry and start a family, leading to a separation between him and his brothers. His brothers try to eke their own existences in a world where jobs are sparse and, when found, often difficult for those who don't 'belong.' Rocco joins the military, and Simone meets a prostitute named Nadia (Annie Girardot) who encourages him to become a boxer for an infamous crook. Simone falls head over heels for Nadia, only to have her reject him for Rocco when he returns from the military. When Simone attacks and rapes Nadia, Rocco realizes how much pain his relationship has caused and encourages Nadia to enter into a relationship with Simone. Simone's slide into anxiety continues, however, resulting in a tragic turn of events for everyone involved.
Luchino Visconti entered the film scene as an assistant director in the mid-1930s, but his hard work, artistic eye for detail, and family connections enabled him to move up the industry ladder quickly. He often co-wrote the films he directed, and he had no qualms casting his various homosexual lovers both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Visconti made a number of films that remain famous not only in his native Italy but also in the United States, many of them driven by his own passionate interests. But few are quite as accomplished as Rocco and His Brothers, which may arguably be his masterpiece (despite an oeuvre that includes Obsession, 1943; The Leopard, 1963; The Damned, 1969; Death in Venice, 1971; and his final film, The Innocent, 1976). Rocco is told in multiple parts, with a viewpoint that vacillates between principle characters. The main characters are Rocco, Simone, and Nadia… and Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, and Annie Girardot are perfectly cast in the roles, though it's Salvatori who really stands out, in part because of the inner conflicts he has to convey. For that matter, there isn't a bad performance in the bunch. Add to that Visconti's sense of framing and direction and Giuseppe Rotunno's gorgeous cinematography and you've got a film that flies by despite its lengthy running time.
Even before filming concluded, Visconti met with trouble. The location for the murder sequence had to be moved due to striking similarities to the murder of a prostitute there, and the government forced certain cuts and/or the darkening of some sequences on the final film, fearing that they would result in the moral decay of viewers. Regardless, the film proved a box office success in its native country and a critical darling on both sides of the pond. It accrued many awards and over the years has amassed a positive reputation that will surely grow with this Blu-ray release from Eureka, which is packed with extras.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Rocco and His Brothers has been given a 4k restoration from the original negative by Cineteca di Bologna at the L'Immagine Ritrovata Laboratory, with supervision from the film's cinematographer. Eureka has released the film to Blu-ray with an MPEG-4 AVC encode in 1080p high-definition. Placed on a BD50 disc, the film is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The restoration includes two scenes cut by Italian censors after the film's festival debut in 1960, as well as a scene removed from the last reel at a later date but which was found in a first-generation print preserved by the Archivio Storico delle Arti Contemporanee de la Biennale di Venezia. Because the negative had been damaged in some places, sections from a vintage dupe positive was used to fill in the holes. The transfer is a considerable improvement over previous DVD releases, but it still has one issue: an imbalance in black levels. In some areas, detail is lost to the overwhelming darkness, resulting in crush. But, while crush is often accompanied by overblown grain, that isn't the case here, where grain has a very natural, unpronounced appearance throughout, providing a solid foundation for Visconti's gorgeous and painterly frames. And note that when crush isn't a problem, details are phenomenal. Given that the film is set in post-war Italy, the florid wallpapers, thick interior set decorations, and native clothing possess such fine detail that it often appears as if a viewer is looking through a window into the past rather than into a television screen or computer monitor. There are times when gray levels and the contrast between lights and darks is perfectly balanced, and in general, the image looks terrific. For an example of just how strong the image can be, skip to the 11:19 mark; ostentatious wallpaper, bouquets of flowers, florid scarves and sweaters, and hanging garlands create an ornate and baroque atmosphere that perfectly showcases the best of what the format has to offer. In fact, the detail is so overwhelming that it's often possible to tell when a sweater was likely hand-knitted or factory made! Clocking in at nearly three hours, Eureka's use of a BD50 was certainly sensible, with the result that, despite the sheer number of extras, there are no issues with compression nor is there a spot of dirt and debris or a scratch to be found. Indeed, some shots are so clean that they look as if they could have been filmed yesterday! It's obvious that Cineteca spent a great deal of time and care on a film that deserved it.
The film's primary audio track, which features a terrific score from composer Nino Rota, is presented in lossless Italian LPCM Mono, while a secondary track, this one in French, also utilizes lossless LPCM Mono. Both tracks are free of issues and, despite the monaural sound, are quite nice, with no cracks, hisses, or pops; nor do sounds interfere with each other. Rota's score is surprisingly vibrant and dynamic. Interestingly, the score is louder though boxier in the French track. English subtitles are provided for those who know neither Italian nor French; and while they appear white on a black and white background, they are surrounded by a thin black outline to help them stand in relief. There are no audio commentaries.
Eureka has supplied Rocco and His Brothers with a number of terrific extras. First up is Cinecronaca Newsreel (7:15), which covers the Venice Film Festival awards and is presented in Italian with removable English subtitles. Caleidoscopio Newsreel (1:53) features behind-the-scenes footage of the filming of Rocco.
Les coulisses du tournage (20:37) is a 2003 featurette about the film that includes an interview with Claudia Cardinale. The program discusses the film's historical setting, the shoot and many of the difficulties Visconti faced, how locations were decided upon, and so on, with narration in French. Optional English subtitles are included.
Individual interviews with Cardinale (23:18), Rotunno (26:31), and Girardot (30:17) are also included and are insightful. Cardinale and Rotunno discuss the entirety their careers as well as Visconti and Rocco. Cardinale's interview was shot in 1999 as part of the Italian RAI series Memories of Italian Cinema, while Rotunno's was shot for Italian television in 1999 and Girardot's was shot in France in 2002. Girardot's is most relegated to a discussion about Rocco.
The original Italian trailer is also included and runs 3:24. Optional English subtitles are provided for the onscreen Italian text.
The icing on the proverbial cake, however, is the 1999 RAI documentary “about the life and work of Luchino Visconti.†Running 60:35, it features interviews with cinematographer Rotunno; actors Vittorio Gassman, Burt Lancaster, Jean Marais, Massimo Girotti, Marcello Mastroianni, and Silvana Mangano; directors Giuseppe De Santis, Carlo Lizzani, Luigi Filippo d'Amico, Francesco Rosi, and Franco Zeffirelli; production director Claudio Forges D'Avanzati; screenwriters Suso Cecchi di'Amico and Enrico Medioli; composers Hans Werner Henze and Franco Mannino; costume designer Piero Tosi; and Volker Scherliess and Nathalie Bielfeldt of Buddenbrook House, Lubeck, It contains innumerable scenes from various Visconti movies and features removable English subtitles for those participants speaking in Italian, French, or other languages. For participants not speaking Italian, there are burned-in Italian subs. The highlight is undoubtedly the archival footage of Visconti himself, which features his thoughts in his own words. The documentary spans the length of Visconti's career, ending with his death in 1976.
Finally, for those who purchase the Blu-ray release, a 40-page booklet is included. (This was not provided to Rock! Shock! Pop! for review.)
The Final Word:
Despite an occasional issue with crush, Rocco and His Brothers benefits from a beautiful 4k restoration dumbed down to 1080p. The sound is strong and there are extras galore, all of them worth watching.
Christopher Workman is a freelance writer, film critic, and co-author (with Troy Howarth) of the Tome of Terror horror film review series. Volume 2 of that series (covering the 1930s), is currently available, with Volume 1 (covering the silent era) due out later this year.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
