MAGNET contributing editor Jud Cost is sharing some of the wealth of classic films he’s been lucky enough to see over the past 40 years. Trolling the backwaters of cinema, he has worked up a list of more than 100 titles—from the ’30s through the ’70s—that you may have missed. A new selection, all currently available on DVD, appears every Friday.
Rocco And His Brothers (1960, in Italian with English subtitles, 180 minutes)
At a time when younger film directors Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita) and Michelangelo Antonioni (L’Avventura) were concocting tales of the decadent rich, Luchino Visconti remained true to his roots in post-war Italian neo-realism. Rocco And His Brothers, Visconti’s epic 1960 story of a poor family striving for a better life by moving to the big city of Milan, explodes onto the screen with so much happening to so many different characters, it’s almost like reading a Russian novel: You have to take notes.
It might have been confusing at times even for the actors working on the film. The young, sensitive Rocco Parondi (played by Alain Delon with a cool, James Dean-like introspection) and Nadia (Annie Girardot) both speak their lines in French (dubbed afterward in Italian). When viewed today, one aspect of the movie strikes a familiar chord. The haunting musical score by Nino Rota is eerily similar to the work he would do for Francis Ford Coppola’s first two films in The Godfather saga. Rocco was also an obvious influence on Martin Scorsese’s groundbreaking 1973 picture Mean Streets.
When Rosaria Parondi (Katina Paxinou) arrives in Milan with four of her five sons in tow, they lug all their worldly goods to the home of her oldest boy, Vincenzo, who’s about to marry Ginetta (future star Claudia Cardinale in a small part). The two mothers instantly dislike each other, and the Parondis find shelter instead in a wretched basement flat. It snows overnight, and the brothers get work the next morning clearing the streets and sidewalks. “Come back with your pockets full of money, or you’re no sons of your mama,” says Rosaria after making them a simple breakfast of bread dipped in mugs of coffee.
The boys find work and learn how to move into a more comfortable place. All they must do, says a friend, is not pay their rent, get evicted, and they’ll immediately qualify for public housing. Rocco labors in a laundry, while the impulsive, reckless Simone (Renato Salvatori, at times bearing an uncanny resemblance to Russell Crowe) becomes a professional boxer. Breaking strict training rules, Simone smokes and drinks too much and takes up with Nadia, a prostitute who lives nearby.
Two years later, the gentle, idealistic Rocco, home from military service, also falls for Nadia, abandoned long ago by his older brother. Rocco has been tabbed by Cerri (Paolo Stoppa), Simone’s manager, as his next boxing prospect. “It’s on you now,” Cerri barks at Rocco after Simone gets the stuffing beat out of him, “to make up for all the trouble your brother has caused me.” With his former girlfriend now involved with Rocco and his boxing career in tatters, Simone—unlike the end of his last fight—will not take this lying down.
