Three Brothers

Beautifully shot family tale with an excellent cast of top-notch actors is obviously meant, with its multi-level narrative, as fable for life and society in Italy.

In a farmhouse in southern Italy, an old woman dies. Her husband summons their sons: from Rome, Raffaele, a judge facing a political case for which he risks assassination; from Naples, the religious and ideological Rocco, a counselor at a correctional institute for boys; from Turin, Nicola, a factory worker involved in labor disputes.

"Three Brothers" is based on a work by Soviet playwright Andrei Platonov and adapted by prolific screenwriter Tonino Guerra ("Blow-Up"). Assisting with the adaptation was director Francesco Rosi, who never seems to have quite achieved the world renown of other Italian directors, despite his highly-praised "The Mattei Affair". Joining Rosi at the helm is two-time Oscar-winning cinematographer Pasqualino DeSantis, who provides a higher quality look than your average Italian film.

As a writer myself, what is most striking about the film for me is the adaptation. The original story is set in Russia in the early 20th century, and the new story is set in Italy in the second half of the century. That may not seem like a big deal, but the particulars are certainly quite different. Soviet Russia is in no way the same culturally as Naples or Rome. And yet, the story is flawlessly ported over.

Arrow Video brings us an excellent Blu-ray. We have a brand new 2K restoration from original film materials. The key special feature is an archival audio interview with Francesco Rosi from 1987. Any scholar of Rosi will appreciate this conversation that runs over an hour. We also get a booklet featuring an essay by Millicent Marcus, a 1981 interview with Rosi and a selection of contemporary reviews. Unfortunately, there is no commentary, nor any interview with star Michele Placido, but this is still a fine release nonetheless for an otherwise neglected film.

I've always been very interested in Italy, its culture, its architecture, its cinema,... and that's why I will not let a chance go by to watch an Italian movie, because most of the time you'll see a fine combination of all these factors in it. So far I've already seen several Italian films, including some fine award winners like "La Meglio gioventù" and "La Stanza del figlio", and I can't remember that I've seen many that I really didn't like.

"Tre fratelli" tells the story of three brothers who return to the farmhouse in southern Italy where they grew up after the death of their mother. Except for their family ties, the three adult men don't really seem to have anything in common. Raffaele is a happily married judge in Rome who risks to be assassinated for a political case he hasn't even accepted yet, Rocco is a single social worker who works at a correctional institute for boys in Naples and Nicola is a radical factory worker from Turin who lives separated from his wife and who is involved in labor disputes and therefor risks to be fired. Together they have several discussions about the meaning of life, marriage terrorism, the mafia,... while their father grieves over the loss of his wife with his young granddaughter, who he also teaches something about life in the countryside.

Perhaps not everybody agrees with me, but this movie reminded me a lot of "La Meglio gioventù". And you can definitely see that as a compliment, because I really loved that movie a lot. This movie too showed how several family members, who don't seem to have much in common at first, make the best of their lives together, with the current social and political situation in Italy on the background. The main difference is that this movie only focuses on the 1980's, while the story of the other movie started in 1966 and ended in 2000.

Philippe Noiret, Michele Placido and Vittorio Mezzogiorno are very nice to watch as the brothers and Charles Vanel was very good as their father, but if I have to chose one actor who really surprised me, then it must be the young Marta Zoffoli. Despite her young age, she gave away a very fine performance and in my opinion she was the true star of the movie.

Overall this is a very nice drama that certainly should get a lot more attention than what it has received so far. When I see that it has only received 130 votes until now, I truly believe that this movie doesn't get the audience that it deserves. It has a good story and some very fine acting to offer, the decors are nice and thanks to Francesco Rosi, the director and co-writer of this movie, everything has been brought together into one solid movie. I give this movie at least a 7.5/10 and hope that many more will see it.

Beautifully directed and beautifully shot film from Francesco Rosi. From the wonderfully framed shot behind the opening credits at the very start I was enchanted and fascinated. A simple enough tale of an old man calling his three sons to his isolated farmhouse following the death of their mother. The three are all at work in the modern world and we gather it is rare that they meet up or visit their childhood home. Contrasts abound between the three and their father and their differing lifestyles. The judgmental judge, the utopian carer for delinquent boys and the militant factory worker (all representing facets of the director's personality, he is said to have claimed) all discuss the way they see the world and more especially their homeland, then being torn apart by assassinations, corruption and union and mafia intervention. Pastoral and yet vigorous with the undercurrents of pessimism and loss of hope and search for love are very well handled and make for absorbing viewing.

Rossi touches the spectator with a movie that is part the modern Italy, being the way of living of the three brothers, and the old and more rural Italy, the lifestyle of Donato, the father. "Tre fratelli" is a melancolic piece of art, the way Donato remembers his wife and how Marta can remember him of his wife. The relationship between the three brothers is seemed to be tense due to the differences between them until Raffaele asks Rocco about his sexual life...something that always seem to break tension between brothers or friends. It is very interesting how all the adults have a dream or a memory and therefore we are told part of the story that way, such as the real fear of Nicola to be killed or the willingnes of Rocco to help the problematic kids.

Another Rossi piece of art in a simple and poetic way.