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THE BEST OF YOUTH Send This Review to a Friend
At the beginning of "The Best of Youth," shown at the new York Film Festival 2003, I didn't feel a particular connection with the characters, but as the drama evolved, I was completely caught up in the saga of the Italian family under inspection over a 40-year time span and various generations. Originally made for television, the film is six hours 23 minutes long, but the time moves rapidly as so much is packed on screen while we follow the fortunes and problems of the Carati family. In commercial release, the film is being shown in two parts.
Directed by Marco Tullio Giordana, "The Best of Youth” has a remarkable cast, with Luigi Lo Cascio and Alessio Boni playing the two sons who are pivotal to the story. What makes the film especially interesting is that the family saga is interwoven with events of the time, including the flood that took place in Florence and such problems as terrorism. The history of Italy is a major part of the drama. Obviously a film like this is tough to market, but it is an important work that audiences should find enthralling.
Key to the drama is following the different roads the brothers take. Nicola (Luigi Lo Cascio) becomes a militant who gets involved in labor demonstrations in the late 1960s, while Matteo (Alessio Boni) eventually ends up working in the police force, which is called upon to fight against demonstrations.
The broad story encompasses personal relationships, love interest and ethical and political values, all played out against the background of events of the time so that the stories mirror changes in Italian life. While “The Best of Youth” delivers the sweep of an epic, it also has the intensity of personal drama. A Miramax release.
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