Rocco and His Brothers

Although I can’t say I wasn’t entertained by Luchino Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers (1960)—despite its behemoth three-hour running time—I’m not at all sure it’s anywhere near the great film its art-house cred suggests. It’s really more like a heavy-duty soap opera, and the film is ultimately not really aware that it constantly flirts with—and sometimes achieves—unintentional humor. Rocco and His Brothers is about a poor family from the Italian south who migrate to Milan to make their fortunes, and it’s perched somewhere in between Visconti’s neo-realist period (something that was always as much a practical consideration as an aesthetic one) and his later, more baroque works. It’s not entirely successful in either realm. The tone is operatic, which doesn’t quite suit the “lower depths” material. And for that matter, the material is on the simplistic side with the characters painted in very broad strokes. There are also moments, I’m afraid, where it’s hard not to think that Visconti’s primary interest is to let his camera linger over these striking young men. (There’s no denying that the young Alain Delon in particular is very striking indeed.) I have nothing against any of these elements per se, but I do think what you end up with is more an entertaining, overheated mish-mash than a great classic.

Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present Rocco and His Brothers at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 16, at Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District (upstairs in the Railroad Library). Info: 273-3332, www.ashevillecourtyard.com