RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
RT's Blu-ray HQ
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / My Brother Is An Only Child
My Brother Is An Only Child

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

My Brother Is An Only Child (2006)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
86 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:58

Fresh:50

Rotten:8

Average Rating:7/10

Consensus: Luchetti takes advantage of the storyline's historical context without sacrificing his cast's fine performances or the script's light wit.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:Mar 28, 2008 Limited

Synopsis: Already a smash in its native Italy, MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD, which was presented at this year’s Cannes and Toronto film festivals, reunites director Luchetti with longtime collaborators Sandro... Already a smash in its native Italy, MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD, which was presented at this year’s Cannes and Toronto film festivals, reunites director Luchetti with longtime collaborators Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli, best known as screenwriters of the highly acclaimed “The Best of Youth.” Set in a small Italian town in the 60’s and 70’s, the film tells the story of two 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 contrarian voice by joining the reactionary Fascists. What starts as a typical tale of sibling rivalry becomes the story of the polarizing and paralyzing politics of those turbulent times and, the rift between the brothers is further intensified when Accio realizes that he loves his brother’s girlfriend, Francesca (Diane Fleri) who, like everyone else, is blind to Manrico’s increasingly dangerous ideas. An intensely cinematic and incredibly incisive film about the dreams and disillusionments of the 60’s and 70’s, MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD is set in the exact era of the groundbreaking early classics of Bernardo Bertolucci and Marco Bellochio. Not only does Luchetti pay explicit homage to those films – “Before the Revolution,” “Fist in the Pocket,” and “China is Near” – he comes very close to matching their beauty, intelligence, and youthful exuberance. --© THINKFilm [More]

Starring: Angela Finocchiaro, Luca Zingaretti, Elio Germano, Riccardo Scamarcio

Starring: Angela Finocchiaro, Luca Zingaretti, Elio Germano, Riccardo Scamarcio, Diane Fleri, Alba Rohrwacher, Massimo Popolizio

Director: Daniele Luchetti

Director: Daniele Luchetti
Producer: Riccardo Tozzi, Giovanni Stabilini, Marco Chimenz
Screenwriter: Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli, Daniele Luchetti
Composer: Franco Piersanti
Studio: ThinkFilm

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Trailer
    >
1 of 1

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Aug 5, 2008

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • The violent political unrest of 1960s Italy brings simmering tensions between two feuding brothers to the boiling point in this critically acclaimed film. Eager to distance themselves from each other, Accio (Elio Germano, Do You Like Hitchock?, Respiro: Grazia's Island) and older brother, Manrico (Riccardo Scamarcio, Romanzo Criminale, Three Steps Over Heaven), join opposing political parties but are tied together by their dysfunctional working-class family... and a beautiful girl named Francesca. As the turbulent decade comes to a close, the brothers slowly discover they're more alike than they thought, but that realization might come too late.
  • Source: Image Entertainment Inc.
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for My Brother Is An Only Child

    • T-Meter Critics
    • Top Critics
    • RT Community
    • My Critics
    • My Friends
    • DVD
     
     
    1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating)
    Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
    Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
     
     

    manages to evoke, but never trivialise, the mad, internecine conflicts of recent Italian political history

    Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
    04/06/08
    Time Out

    My Brother Is an Only Child is a lively minor addendum to the grand tradition of Italian fraternal cinema.

    comment Comment
    03/28/08
    A.O. Scott
    A.O. Scott
    New York Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    It is almost a relief to find some ideological clarity in a film that unfortunately ends in complete political disillusionment on all sides.

    Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
    03/26/08
    Andrew Sarris
    Andrew Sarris
    New York Observer
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Luchetti directs with a light touch that recalls the Italian comedies that were popular -- in the U.S. as well as Europe -- during the period it portrays.

    Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
    04/03/08
    Andy Klein
    Andy Klein
    Los Angeles CityBeat

    My Brother Is An Only Child reminisces with improbable yet affecting fondness over the adolescents behind the -isms that would shape post-war Italy.

    Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
    03/27/08
    Anton Bitel
    Anton Bitel
    Channel 4 Film

    [Director] Luchetti understands that the soul of Italy is found in its disparate people -- its brothers -- and particularly in its cinema tradition. Luchetti strides in the footpath of giants.

    Full Review Source: New York Press | comment Comment
    03/26/08
    Armond White
    Armond White
    New York Press

    Although familiarity with Italian politics helps in appreciating this film, anyone can enjoy this energetic tale of a house divided.

    Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
    06/08/08
    Beth Accomando
    Beth Accomando
    KPBS.org

    Although familiarity with Italian politics helps in appreciating this film, anyone can enjoy this energetic tale of a house divided.

    Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
    06/08/08
    Beth Accomando
    Beth Accomando
    KPBS.org

    Yep, it's your typical shouty Italian movie, though this time presented with sharp humor and an effortless cinematic verity by director Daniele Luchetti.

    Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
    04/04/08
    Bob Strauss
    Bob Strauss
    Los Angeles Daily News

    Surprisingly funny, good-looking and a true showcase for the talents of rising star Elio Germano.

    Full Review Source: european-films.net | comment Comment
    05/21/07
    Boyd van Hoeij
    Boyd van Hoeij
    european-films.net

    The film, which argues that blood brotherhood is stronger than political brotherhoods, vibrates with their youthful energy and ardor.

    Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    Carrie Rickey
    Carrie Rickey
    Philadelphia Inquirer
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    My Brother Is an Only Child is a buoyant, handsomely crafted film.

    Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
    05/16/08
    Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
    Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
    St. Paul Pioneer Press

    You don't need a degree in political science to love this film...The film entertainingly demonstrates that the bonds of blood are stronger than those of ideology.

    Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
    05/15/08
    Colin Covert
    Colin Covert
    Minneapolis Star Tribune

    What makes My Brother Is an Only Child so alive and entertaining is how it dramatizes the endless tug-of-war between political conviction and personal experience -- the way the lines twist and blur and finally implode.

    Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
    03/24/08
    David Edelstein
    David Edelstein
    New York Magazine
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Although the movie never quite dispels the sense of being dated (it could have been made anytime in the past 40 years), it's a memorable, often moving timepiece.

    Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
    04/10/08
    Desson Thomson
    Desson Thomson
    Washington Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Made in the tradition of Italian films documenting the effects of shifting political contexts on personal and family lives, Luchetti's intelligent work at once pays homage to and belongs to seminal films by Bertolucci (Before the Revolution) and Bellochio

    Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
    03/18/08
    Emanuel Levy
    Emanuel Levy
    EmanuelLevy.Com

    A spunky, memorable, and emotionally touching Italian film about the quest for personal transformation through politics.

    Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
    03/24/08
    Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
    Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
    Spirituality and Practice

    Politics takes a back seat in a jaunty comedy of a pair of brothers, one Communist and one Fascist, who come to a fraternal understanding too late.

    Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
    01/24/08
    Harvey S. Karten
    Harvey S. Karten
    Compuserve

    A handsomely-made, brightly charming pleasure.

    Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment Comment
    05/23/07
    James Rocchi
    James Rocchi
    Cinematical

    Helmer Daniele Luchetti keeps the mood light and winning.

    Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
    05/12/07
    Jay Weissberg
    Jay Weissberg
    Variety
     
     
    1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating)
    Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
    all

    Latest News for My Brother Is An Only Child

    March 25, 2008: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
    More...

    July 24, 2007: Mio fratelle e figlio unico (My Brother is an Only Child) - preview & trailer Opens in new window
    More...

    See All

    More DVDs

    Close
    Top Rentals
    Tomatometer Percentage Movie
    36% 36% Angels & Demons
    25% 25% Four Christmases
    68% 68% Funny People
    95% 95% Star Trek
    14% 14% The Ugly Truth

    More Rentals…

    New On DVD This Week
    Tomatometer Percentage Movie
    32% 32% Terminator Salvation
    44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…
    86% 86% A Christmas Tale
    60% 60% Paper Heart

    More New Releases…

    RT On Current TV

    DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196

    What’s Hot On RT

    Nine Pictures

    Nine Pictures

    Hottest poster ever? 14 pictures from Nine

    Disney Countdown

    Disney Countdown

    Look back on Disney's best animated movies!

    RT's Gift Guide

    RT's Gift Guide

    Give the best movies, gear, and more!

    Natalie Portman

    Natalie Portman

    See what her 10 best reviewed films are!

    Other News

    Close
    • Top Stories
    • Popular
    • Interviews
     
     

    Comments

     
     
    Top Stories
    Headlines Comments
      
    • Tarantino Could Have Directed Green Lantern Source: MTV
    10
    • Will Duvall be Gilliam's Don Quixote? Source: Collider.com
    14
    • No Hobbit Until 2012? Source: The Wrap
    21
    • Don't Hold Your Breath for Hancock 2 Source: HitFix
    40
    • Peter Berg Talks Battleship Source: CHUD
    2
    • Summit Ponders Twilight Finale Source: Variety
    156
    • First Look at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Source: USA Today
    56
    • Jeremy Renner Talks Hawkeye Possibilities Source: Superhero Hype
    14
    • Todd Phillips Talks The Hangover 2 Source: Entertainment Weekly
    18
    • Tron Legacy Duo Heading into The Black Hole Source: Hollywood Reporter
    9
    Popular
    Headlines Comments
      
    • Ban Them All! 10 Infamously Controversial Movies
    100
    • Friday Harvest: The Road, Avatar, and more!
    96
    • Total Recall: Natalie Portman's Best Movies
    54
    • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Vampires and Football Break Thanksgiving Records
    38
    • Five Favorite Films with Jesse Ventura
    34
    • Weekly Ketchup: Zombieland 2 in 3D?
    28
    • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Terminator Salvation and a Smithsonian Battle
    20
    • 10 Horrifically Profitable Films
    10
    • 2010 Sundance Film Festival Lineup Announced
    6
    • Duncan Jones Reteams With Kevin Spacey
    5
    Interviews
    Headlines Comments
      
    • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
    17
    • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
    11
    • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
    21
    • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
    8
    • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
    15
    • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
    22
    • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
    9
    • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
    28
    • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
    28
    • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
    14
     
     

    Sponsored Links

    Around The Network

    • My Brother Is An Only Child at Rotten Tomatoes
    • My Brother Is An Only Child at IGN

    Fresh Links

    Featured
    History of Disney Animation
    History of Disney Animation External Link

    MSN Movies offers a little background on the success of Disney Animation.

    90 Years of Screen Vampires
    90 Years of Screen Vampires External Link

    TIME takes a look back at the history of vampires on film.

    Virtuoso Vistas of Lovely Bones
    Virtuoso Vistas of Lovely Bones External Link

    Techland examines the visual splendor of Peter Jackson's upcoming film.

    Recent Headlines as TV Movies
    Recent Headlines as TV Movies External Link

    AOL put together a list of 10 recent news items that would be perfect as TV Movies.

    Promos
    Follow RT on Twitter
    Follow RT on Twitter External Link

    Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

     
     
    About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
    IGN Logo

    IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
    TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
    AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


    By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
    Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
    IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
    Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.