Cinema and the city. Milan and Luchino Visconti's Rocco and his Brothers (1960)

• Published in: Journal of modern Italian studies Vol. 4; no. 2; pp. 209 - 235
• Main Author: Foot, John M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 01.06.1999
• Subjects: Film studies; Internal migration; Italy; Literary criticism; Luchino Visconti; migration; Milan; Social history; Stereotypes; urban studies
• ISSN: 1354-571X; 1469-9583
• DOI: 10.1080/13545719908455007

Rocco e i suoi fratelli (1960) was one of Luchino Visconti's most controversial and popular films. This tragic story of six immigrants (five brothers and their mother) who arrive in Milan from Basilicata has become an important part of the historical image held by Italians of the mass southern migration of the boom yean. This article looks at two broad areas with regard to Rocco and his Brothers, using material from the Visconti archive as well as contemporary newspaper articles and the work of film critics. First, the relationship between Milan and Rocco is analysed, and the complicated representation of the city in the film. Second, the issue of migration is examined, with special regard to the use of stereotypes and the various phases of preparation and research carried out by Visconti and his colleagues during the making of Rocco. What emerges is a contradictory and multi-layered movie which tries to combine a series of elements including social criticism, melodrama, literary and historical origins and political radicalism within a grand fresco of passionate human tragedy.