Rosi, Francesco

(1922–)

   Born in Naples a month after the March on Rome, Francesco Rosi is a film director whose work has combined a high degree of political commitment with a remarkable capacity to portray the full gamut of personal emotions in the characters of his films (Rosi has always invariably been his own scriptwriter). His first critical hit was I magliari (The Confidence Tricksters, 1959), which starred the Roman actor Alberto Sordi. His three finest works are widely held to be Mani sulla citta (Hands on the City, 1963), Cadaveri eccellenti (Illustrious Corpses, 1976) and Tre Fratelli (Three Brothers, 1981). The first of these, which deals with the speculative building boom of the 1960s in Naples and its human and urban costs, caused a major political row when it appeared. The second is a cinematic rendition of Leonardo Sciascia’s novel of the same name; Rosi brilliantly shows the protagonist, Inspector Rogas, in his progress toward the truth about a series of political killings—a truth that we never discover because Rogas and the secretary of the “Revolutionary Party” are themselves assassinated in the last scene. As a parable for the many mysterious political killings endured by postwar Italy, the film (and the book) is unparalled. Rosi had earlier done a docudrama about the life (and mysterious death) of Enrico Mattei.

   By contrast, Tre Fratelli, which deals with the issue of terrorism in the 1970s, is based on a simple device. Three brothers return home for the funeral of their peasant father. The eldest (Philippe Noiret) is a senior magistrate active in the fight against the Brigate Rosse/Red Brigades (BR) and is permanently at risk of being killed or wounded in his job; the second (Vittorio Mezzogiorno) is a deeply religious social worker, who dreams that Italy’s woes can be cured by love; and the third (Michele Placido) is a factory worker and activist in Lotta Continua. The film explores the three brothers’ attitudes toward Italy’s problems via flashbacks, dreams, and intense political discussion and yet remains a deeply moving threnody to the Italian family. The film is also of great visual beauty. Rosi’s last major feature film was La Tregua (The Truce, 1996), a rendition of Primo Levi’s book about his return from Auschwitz.

   See also Cinema.