Rocco and His Brothers

"DARING in its realism. STUNNING in its impact. BREATHTAKING in its scope."

1960 2h 58m IT

🙌

8.0

BANGER

★8.0TMDB · 685

DramaRomanceCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When a impoverished widow’s family moves to the big city, two of her five sons become romantic rivals with deadly results.

“DARING in its realism. STUNNING in its impact. BREATHTAKING in its scope.”

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Cast

Alain Delon
Rocco Parondi
Renato Salvatori
Simone Parondi
Annie Girardot
Nadia
Katina Paxinou
Rosaria Parondi
Alessandra Panaro
Ciro's Fiancee
Spiros Focás
Vincenzo Parondi
Claudia Cardinale
Ginetta
Max Cartier
Ciro Parondi

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Luchino Visconti
Writers: Luchino Visconti, Luchino Visconti, Suso Cecchi d'Amico
Languages: Italian
Countries: Italy, France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 178 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

66 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Italy, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Luchino Visconti, shot by Giuseppe Rotunno. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Nino Rota. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Editor Mario Serandrei shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Alain Delon and Renato Salvatori and Annie Girardot carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "DARING in its realism. STUNNING in its impact. BREATHTAKING in its scope.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Luchino Visconti directs. Giuseppe Rotunno behind the camera. Nino Rota scores. Mario Serandrei cuts. A long sit — settle in. Produced in Italy, France. Dialogue in Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 178 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
266 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3International production across 2 countries: Italy, France.
4Directed by Luchino Visconti, shot by Giuseppe Rotunno. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Nino Rota. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Mario Serandrei shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Alain Delon and Renato Salvatori and Annie Girardot carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "DARING in its realism. STUNNING in its impact. BREATHTAKING in its scope.".
9IMDB entry: tt0054248 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 13 themes, including "work", "prostitute", "sibling relationship", "parent child relationship".

The technical file

Cinematography: Giuseppe Rotunno
Original score: Nino Rota
Editing: Mario Serandrei
Production design: Mario Garbuglia
Costume design: Piero Tosi
Makeup / hair: Giuseppe Banchelli
Runtime: 178 min · 2h 58m
Status: Released
Original language: IT
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Rocco and His Brothers (1960)

Awards

Grand Jury Prize of the Venice Film Festival

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Luchino Visconti

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-02-15
★ 7/10
I’m not sure this ought not to have been called “Simone” and his brothers as it’s that sibling (Renato Salvatori) whose actions seem to resonate most across this family. They are led my matriarch “Rosaria” (Katina Paxinou) from their roots in Italy’s south to find a new home in Milan. That’s because elder son “Vincenzo” (Spyros Fokas) has moved there to be with his girlfriend “Ginetta” (Claudia Cardinale). Almost immediately, there’s a bit of a lively inter-family squabble that sees the her and her other sons “Rocco” (Alain Delon), “Simone”, the more sensible “Ciro” (Max Cartier) and their much younger brother “Luca” (Rocco Vidolazzi) all struggling to make ends meet with “Vincenzo” doing what he can to assist. Jobs are hard to come by and so they all resort to milking the system to put a roof over their heads whilst “Ciro” gets a job and the others do what they can to raise some cash. The narrative is loosely compartmentalised with each brother getting a little bit of the storyline but increasingly they centre around the handsome but unreliable “Simone” who proves useful in the boxing ring and who starts to make some money and to date “Nadia” (Annie Girardot). She’s a lady of the night with whom he falls heavily for, but when she discovers that he his stealing to pay his way with her, she asks “Rocco” to return the gifts and moves to another town. Now “Rocco” receives his draft papers and having sent his last lire to his mother, bumps into “Nadia” and soon a romance of their own is bubbling. This one, though, is not based on supply and demand and when his brother discovers this news, he and his friends set up a scenario with heinous ramifications. With “Simone” now on quite an obviously self-destructive path, “Rocco” - himself now a distinguished boxer after his time in the army disgusted by his brother, and “Nadia” loathing just about everyone - including herself, things become more and more toxic for the “Parondi” family. It’s that toxicity that Luchino Visconti captures evocatively as this characterful story develops along lines that are anything but predictable. Sure there is vengeance, but it’s exercised in such a subtle and accumulating manner as to provide us with a denouement that proves entirely unsatisfactory but somehow entirely appropriate. It’s Salvatori who steals this for me, but Girardot also shines as does Paxinou as the epitome of the Italian mother whose character is largely responsible for some of the sparing but punchy histrionic humour that peppers this family drama. The setting of a nation still recovering from the ravages of war, with money tight and opportunities unevenly spread throughout the place tells us potently of the trials and tribulations of relocation and of fitting-in as much as anything else, and some of the monochrome photography contrasts just as strikingly their slum dwellings with the more beautiful architecture of Milan suggesting that even there, there are rags and riches stories to be told and perhaps even to anticipate too. As in so many stories, boxing is used effectively as not just a conduit for hope, but also one for hatred and ambition and it’s with this persona that Delon is at his most effective as his increasingly conflicted and decent “Rocco” finds life nigh on impossible. The final segment falls to the impressionable young “Luca” who might feel just a little short-changed, but who might also prove to be the one most affected and with the most to look forward to. It’s vibrant, angry, clever and possibly my favourite Visconti film and if you can sit for a few hours and watch it on a big screen, then it’s well worth the effort.

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