Alain Delon performed two of the most important roles of his career alongside director Luchino Visconti: Tancredi Falconeri from The Leopard and, above all, Rocco Parondi, from Rocco and his brothers, released in 1960. The French actor was having an excellent professional moment and that same year he released another of his best films, In full sun, in which he plays Tom Ripley. Something incredible if we take into account that he made his film debut only three years earlier. “Rocco and his brothers is the most emotional and complete film by a filmmaker as complex as Luchino Visconti,” said the magazine Fotogramas about this film, considered one of the great films of Italian cinema. With it, Visconti returned to the neorealism of his early films, such as Obsession o The earth trembles. The director stood out for his ability to combine the epic and the intimate, the tragic and the poetic, always with a deep concern for the social context.
The story of Rocco and Simone
In Rocco and his brothers focuses on the story of the Parondi family, who leave their life in an impoverished south of Italy to emigrate to Milan and build a future for themselves. Rosaria, the mother, He is travelling with four of his children, Simone, Rocco, Ciro and Luca, and the eldest, Vincenzo, is waiting for them in Milan. The film focuses on the relationship between Rocco and Simone, who are infatuated with the same woman, a prostitute named Nadia. Simone wants to make a living as a boxer and when he discovers that Nadia is dating Rocco, he abuses her.
This event triggers a tragedy: Rocco is forced to box to help his family, who have to deal with the financial problems caused by Simone’s behavior. The plot serves to create a relentless portrait of the struggle for survival and, at the same time, of the moral disintegration of a country in transformation. Towards modernization and industrialization: Visconti focuses on immigration and violence, but also emphasizes the family as the vital nucleus, marked by sacrifice and honor.
Controversy in Venice
His passage through the Venice Film Festival was marked by controversy. From the beginning it was said that Visconti would take the Golden Lion, but the jury of the Mostra, which included Luis Garcia Berlanga, It was awarded to the French film The crossing of the Rhinedirected by André Cayatte and starring Charles Aznavour. The attendees at the awards ceremony, supporters of Luchino Visconti’s proposal, protested with whistles, and Rocco and his brothers had to console himself with the Special Jury Prize. The Italian director did not want to accept the award and decided to hold a private party at the same time as the ceremony.
Rocco and his brotherscensored
The film, with scenes of strong violence, was victim of censorship and reached theaters in an adulterated version. It was not spared from censorship in the United States either, where it was released in June 1961. The public was only able to see 149 minutes, less than two and a half hours, which is far from the almost three hours of the original version. When it was broadcast on television, the disaster was even greater: the film was cut, leaving only 95 minutes. Fortunately, the film was able to be restored, although it had to wait until 2015.the year in which it was launched with superior image quality and with the scenes that had been censored.
From the screen to real life
In the film, the brothers Rocco and Simone Parondi, played by Alain Delon and Renato Salvatori, compete for the same woman, Nadia, a role played by Annie Girardot. The actress was chosen to play Nadia because the director was impressed by her performance in the play Two on the swing (Any day in any cornerin Spain) also directed by Visconti. Girardot, who until then was unknown outside France, became an international star. Despite the tragic consequences of his relationship with Simone, they led a very different life outside the film: Renato Salvatori and Annie Girardot married in 1962 and had a daughter, Giulia.
The creation of a classic
Visconti had a reputation as a perfectionist and repeated the scenes until he got exactly what he wanted. Director of photography Giuseppe Rotunno worked closely with him to create a visual contrast between rural life and the harsh urban reality of post-war Milan. The soundtrack, composed by Nino Rota, was also crucial in creating the atmosphere of the film. Rota, who had already worked with Visconti in The White Nights, He composed music that envelops the dramatic and melancholic tone of the film. Francis Coppola praised his work and commissioned him to score the film. The Godfather.
Visconti and his legacy
Rocco and his brothers It is a great inspiration for filmmakers of different generations and a masterpiece for Francis Ford Coppola, who included it in his list of “39 films you must see before you die”. RTVE Play pays tribute to Alain Delon with this classic film, which becomes part of its catalogue along with titles such as What burns, The silence of the swamp oh Mamma Mia.
