My Brother Is an Only Child (Mio Fratello è figlio unico)
From the writers of The Best of Youth comes this hit Italian film
spanning the political ferment of the 1960s and 70s and focusing on two small-town
brothers who want to change the world, but in completely different ways. The
elder, Manrico (Riccardo Scarmaccio), is a handsome, charismatic firebrand
who becomes the prime mover in the local Communist party. Accio (Elio
Germano),
the younger, more rebellious brother, finds his own contrary voice by joining
the reactionary Fascists. The rift between brothers is further intensified
when Accio realizes he loves his brother’s girlfriend Francesca (Diane
Fleri),
who, like everyone else, is blind to Manrico’s increasingly dangerous ideas.
What begins as a knowing and witty tale of sibling rivalry deepens into a highly
emotional portrait of the dreams and disillusionments of those turbulent times,
and this story filters the polarizing, and often paralyzing, politics of the
era through the eyes of passionate youth. Writers: Sandro
Petraglia and Stefano Rulli, based on the novel Il Fasciocomunista by Antonio
Pennacchi.
Director: Daniele Luchetti. (Italy 2007) 108 min.
From the writers of The Best of Youth comes this hit Italian film
spanning the political ferment of the 1960s and 70s and focusing on two small-town
brothers who want to change the world, but in completely different ways. The
elder, Manrico (Riccardo Scarmaccio), is a handsome, charismatic firebrand
who becomes the prime mover in the local Communist party. Accio (Elio
Germano),
the younger, more rebellious brother, finds his own contrary voice by joining
the reactionary Fascists. The rift between brothers is further intensified
when Accio realizes he loves his brother’s girlfriend Francesca (Diane
Fleri),
who, like everyone else, is blind to Manrico’s increasingly dangerous ideas.
What begins as a knowing and witty tale of sibling rivalry deepens into a highly
emotional portrait of the dreams and disillusionments of those turbulent times,
and this story filters the polarizing, and often paralyzing, politics of the
era through the eyes of passionate youth. Writers: Sandro
Petraglia and Stefano Rulli, based on the novel Il Fasciocomunista by Antonio
Pennacchi.
Director: Daniele Luchetti. (Italy 2007) 108 min. 