Review of Rocco and His Brothers (1960)
Seen in 2016.
I was impressed with the fairly even pace and diegetic length of the plot, with the moments of social realism, and with the character of Nadia—well played by Annie Girardot—who transcends the madonna-whore complex that Rosaria obsesses over. However, a romantic melodrama riveted to a sports action picture, preserving the length of a double feature, is boring even in skilled hands. This one also happens to be naïvely moralistic: Rocco is peaceful and hopeful by nature, while Simone’s early laziness turns out to be central to “evil”.