Rocco and His Brothers (1960)

 Luchino Visconti's "Rocco and His Brothers"

While watching Luchino Visconti's 1960 Italian film "Rocco and His Brothers," there was sentiment that I couldn't quite shake. I felt as though I were watching a proto-"Godfather," in both theme and thematic premise. I thought to myself, "there's no way Francis Ford Coppola wasn't at least partially inspired by 'Rocco and His Brothers' at some point in his life." And boy, was I correct.

The film follows Rocco, a young man who moves to the industrialized north of Italy with his family - his mother and his four brothers - after his father passes away. As they venture out to figure out find work and money, one of the brothers, Simone, becomes a promising boxer. Rocco accompanies him and trains with them. However, after Simone falls in love with a prostitute named Nadia who lives in their building, he begins shirking his training. Rocco takes his place and unassumingly becomes the family golden boy, even falling in love with Nadia after she leaves the abusive Simone. The family further starts to disintegrate until the point where Simone becomes an alcoholic, abusive, and even murderous weight on their success and stability.

Aside from the loose "Godfather" comparisons, I felt the film really pull me into its melodrama. It is almost a 3 hour experience, so the weight of the characters decisions feels that much more heavy and far reaching. I found the protagonist, Rocco, at times too noble in his quest to care for his family, as discomforting as that sounds. Rocco's heart is pure, despite the contempt he faces. His selfless devotion to his family and their well-being combined with the increasing levels of difficulty for him to be successful by his brother becomes the heart of the drama at the story.

As far as the direction goes, Visconti's story is somehow both intimate and sprawling. The family dynamics at the heart of the story become epic in this expansive telling. His visual style seems to directly take from the neo-realist format he helped invent two decades prior. However, there is so much emotional expressionism that he injects into this realism. 

"Rocco and His Brothers" really needed to be its runtime in order to appropriately feel the disintegration of this family unit, as it goes from being incredibly bonded and secure to having to unravel completely by the film's end. Its complicated and complex emotions make it one of the most compelling Visconti experiences I've ever had. I would go as far to say that it is perhaps the best work Visconti has put out thus far in his legendary career.