The Italian director Luchino Visconti directed "Rocco and his Brothers", an epic of modern urban life. The film tells the melodramatic story of a family uprooted from their village in southern Italy, who battle for existence in the industrial metropolis of Milan. The violent sexuality of the film proved too much for the Italian censors, but it is the full, restored version of "Rocco" that Sam Rohdie's analysis sees as a masterpiece of Italian cinema. This text is part of the "BFI Film Classics" series. Each volume in the series presents a personal commentary on the film, together with a brief production history and a detailed filmography, notes and bibliography.