Rocco and His Brothers (Rocco e i Suoi Fratelli): dir Luchino Visconti (1960)

This epic study of family, love, and betrayal is one of Visconti’s most revered works; it’s also one of the defining films of a new realism in Italian cinema, unafraid to confront the hypocrisies of the ruling class, the squalor in urban living, and the collision between generations. Rocco and His Brothers is the story of a tight-knit family that moves from Italy’s rural south to metropolitan Milan in search of a better life – with alarming, unforeseen consequences. Operatically weaving the stories of five brothers across a vast canvas, the film is an acknowledged influence on Coppola’s Godfather films; the extraordinary cast including Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Katina Paxinou, Annie Girardot and Claudia Cardinale, and this print has been beautifully restored to its original version.