Rocco and His Brothers

There’s something about black and white cinema that is magical. Black and white cinema portrays an era that was exactly the same – the times of innocence , and when the black and white had not receded into grey.

Therefore it was with some wonder that I watched Rocco and His Brothers – a 1960 Italian classic – and was amazed by the fact that it deals with the same themes of lost innocence. Directed by the legendary Luchino Visconti, it tells the story of four Italian brothers who leave their country home and move to bustling Milan in search of a better fortune. The story unravels at its own languid pace and how this once cohesive family rips itself apart.

The themes may seem often repeated – the schism between the poor, pristine village and the rich, crooked city. But the emotional upheaval of entering a huge city and its impact on the newly arrived migrants is pictured with astute judgement and directorial vision.
Alain Delon plays the gentle, idealistic Rocco with superb intensity. Renato Salvatori as the savagely jealous and wild Simone is brilliantly edgy.

In more ways than one, Rocco and His Brothers is a story of lost innocence. It speaks of a destruction of old values such as the importance of family overrun by the torrent of individuality that the city encourages. Even a Christ-like figure like Rocco is unable to keep the family cohesive which reflects the decadence of age-old Christian moral values. Values like trust and togetherness that hold no meaning in a ruthless urban world and is inevitably leading the way for change of ethics and values in the countryside.

Rocco and His Brothers talks about a world that is slowly losing its innocent charm – and its cinema at its finest.