Three Brothers

If you think American politics are a mess, just try and make sense of the chaos that took place in Italy in the '70s and '80s. Corruption, collusion and power struggles resulted in the high profile assassinations of judges, many of whom were the sole line of defense in a burgeoning war against terrorism and the Mafia, men who gave up their lives as a surrogate for the weak political will of their country. OK, history lesson over...but it's an essential part of appreciating director Francesco Rosi's Three Brothers (1981), a film based on the work of Russian novelist Andrei Platonov, but predominantly concerned with Italian politics of the day.

The death of their mother brings Raffaele, Rocco and Nicola back together to their small farming village in southern Italy, where their father, Donato, is planning the funeral. Out of touch with each other and the simple lives they left behind, each man brings along their fair share of emotional baggage. Nicola is frustrated with an impending labor dispute at work and an impending divorce at home. Raffaele, a famous judge, is caught between the commitment to his principles and the safety of his family. While Rocco, a quiet bachelor seems at peace with his almost monastic life.

Their patriarch is having a hard time dealing with the loss of his wife, flashing back to small moments they shared together and reminiscing over old photographs with Nicola's young daughter. As each man reconnects with his past, they struggle with which path they should take in the future...and maybe finding the answers are much closer to home.

Three Brothers is a uniquely Italian film made up of uniquely personal stories. One could certainly understand the family drama without a minor in political science, but Rosi isn't pulling any punches when it comes to commenting on current events. Raffaele's moral conundrum in particular - whether or not to take on a dangerous case that may threaten the life of his family - is central to the cinematic debate. And Nicola's support of violent protest to bring about improvements in the workplace reflects another hot topic of the time.

But underneath it all is an almost Bergman-like meditation on the accumulation of quiet moments, the roads less traveled and unexpected u-turns that shape our lives. Rosi's camera lingers on buildings still beautiful amidst the decay, farm trails that disappear into the horizon and landscapes that only improve with memory. It's Nicola's young daughter who seems to understand the magic in these simple pleasures; suggesting Rosi's message just might be we should all find something to live for instead of something to die for.

An Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film in 1981, Three Brothers is actually making its home video premiere thanks to Arrow Films' new blu-ray / dvd combo. The new 2K transfer cleans up quite nicely after the opening credits, although it seems inherently grainy from the source. Audio (in Italian with subtitles) is a bit compressed and shallow sounding but an hour-long audio interview with the late director and collectible booklet are included as extras.