An old man goes to the telegraph office and transmits the news of the decease of their mother to his three sons, who live scattered all over Italy. So much for the initial situation, which Rosi has taken from a Platonov story.
The sons, who then arrive one by one in the South Italian village of the father, are far apart from each other, not only concerning their age. They have also taken completely different roads in their professional careers and in their spiritual developments. The first one, a judge, has to deal with terrorist cases and every day has to reckon with being killed cold-bloodedly by the mafia. The second one could almost be one of the terrorists himself, at least he strives for societal changes, being a worker and a trade union member. The third one has dedicated his life completely to the fulfilment of utopian educational targets and looks after maladjusted juvenile delinquents in a boarding school.
The Italy presented by Rosi is as disunited as the chosen family. It is not only geographically split into two incompatible halves, the North and the South, but also sociologically into different classes that stand facing each other irreconcilably. But "Tre fratelli" has more to offer than just regional or social conflicts. Life itself becomes the center of attention, apart from the three brothers, who represent middle age, also the old father and his eight-year-old grand-daughter are dominating protagonists. These two are able to form a curious alliance of old age and youth, whereas the brothers are just talking at cross purposes in senseless discussions and only reach a sentiment of unison through the mourning at their mother's funeral.
The little girl wants to know a lot about the past, and the old man is willing to remember. He finally recalls the perhaps most blissful moment of his life: Shortly after his wedding he accompanies his wife to the beach, where they both enjoy a short spell of light-heartedness, just before the hard struggle of earning one's living will demand all their forces. There the woman is playing in the sand, lost in thought, but then she suddenly rouses from her daydream and calls out the name of her husband: She can't find her wedding ring, which she has removed accidentally, and now it seems to be lost in the sand. Everything is at stake, but tragedy can be averted for the man keeps his cool, rushes to the next house and comes back with a sieve. A little later he holds the recovered ring in his hands triumphantly.
This event seems to have been meaningful for the further living together of the couple, only the late arrival of Death intervenes in this apparently undisturbed harmony. The feelings of the old man are now marked by sorrow and grief because of the loss, but not by bewilderment or anger. These are the laws of Nature, which he has to obey. In the last take he therefore just slips on that ring again, the ring that signifies one thing in particular to this man who is about to reach the end of his journey. It shows him the reality of his life, that short spell of time that has slipped away so incredibly fast but of which at least he has the comforting certainty of having used it well.
The sons, who then arrive one by one in the South Italian village of the father, are far apart from each other, not only concerning their age. They have also taken completely different roads in their professional careers and in their spiritual developments. The first one, a judge, has to deal with terrorist cases and every day has to reckon with being killed cold-bloodedly by the mafia. The second one could almost be one of the terrorists himself, at least he strives for societal changes, being a worker and a trade union member. The third one has dedicated his life completely to the fulfilment of utopian educational targets and looks after maladjusted juvenile delinquents in a boarding school.
The Italy presented by Rosi is as disunited as the chosen family. It is not only geographically split into two incompatible halves, the North and the South, but also sociologically into different classes that stand facing each other irreconcilably. But "Tre fratelli" has more to offer than just regional or social conflicts. Life itself becomes the center of attention, apart from the three brothers, who represent middle age, also the old father and his eight-year-old grand-daughter are dominating protagonists. These two are able to form a curious alliance of old age and youth, whereas the brothers are just talking at cross purposes in senseless discussions and only reach a sentiment of unison through the mourning at their mother's funeral.
The little girl wants to know a lot about the past, and the old man is willing to remember. He finally recalls the perhaps most blissful moment of his life: Shortly after his wedding he accompanies his wife to the beach, where they both enjoy a short spell of light-heartedness, just before the hard struggle of earning one's living will demand all their forces. There the woman is playing in the sand, lost in thought, but then she suddenly rouses from her daydream and calls out the name of her husband: She can't find her wedding ring, which she has removed accidentally, and now it seems to be lost in the sand. Everything is at stake, but tragedy can be averted for the man keeps his cool, rushes to the next house and comes back with a sieve. A little later he holds the recovered ring in his hands triumphantly.
This event seems to have been meaningful for the further living together of the couple, only the late arrival of Death intervenes in this apparently undisturbed harmony. The feelings of the old man are now marked by sorrow and grief because of the loss, but not by bewilderment or anger. These are the laws of Nature, which he has to obey. In the last take he therefore just slips on that ring again, the ring that signifies one thing in particular to this man who is about to reach the end of his journey. It shows him the reality of his life, that short spell of time that has slipped away so incredibly fast but of which at least he has the comforting certainty of having used it well.