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Movies / On DVD / My Brother Is An Only Child
My Brother Is An Only Child

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My Brother Is An Only Child (2006)

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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

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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.
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    Reviews for My Brother Is An Only Child

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    1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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    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

    Director Daniele Luchetti's strategy is to personify the long-standing divisions of his homeland in a pair of siblings, but make the characters so vital that we don't feel we're being browbeaten with political allegory.

    Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
    04/25/08
    Walter V. Addiego
    Walter V. Addiego
    San Francisco Chronicle
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    The rough-and-tumble tone is bitterly entertaining but in the end doesn't contribute to a convincing historical portrait, and a pileup of half-baked resolutions spoils the buzz.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
    04/25/08
    Michael Atkinson
    Michael Atkinson
    Chicago Reader
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    In this lively drama of rebellion and revolution, emotion is even more inflammatory than politics.

    Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
    05/08/08
    Sean Axmaker
    Sean Axmaker
    Seattle Post-Intelligencer

    The film's early affability eventually wears out, and a sharp turn into deadly seriousness feels out of place.

    Full Review Source: Las Vegas Weekly | comment Comment
    05/22/08
    Josh Bell
    Josh Bell
    Las Vegas Weekly

    Thanks to the captivating performances, this is well worth checking out.

    Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
    04/06/08
    Ross Bennett
    Ross Bennett
    Empire Magazine

    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

    Daniele Luchetti's fluent, heartfelt Italian picture is the story of two brothers born after the war, who come of age in the 1960s and drift apart in the paranoid, violent, sour political atmosphere of Italy in the 70s.

    Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    Peter Bradshaw
    Peter Bradshaw
    Guardian [UK]

    The best thing about the movie are the performances, all of which are outstanding; in particular, Angela Finocchiaro, who plays the long-suffering mother, is superb.

    Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
    06/06/08
    Liz Braun
    Liz Braun
    Jam! Movies

    Tells a familiar story in a familiar way with conviction and no small amount of talent on both sides of the camera, though it's hardly essential.

    Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
    04/17/08
    Tim Brayton
    Tim Brayton
    Antagony & Ecstasy

    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

    It's an engrossing political love story, with a strong sense of the shadings within the daily lives of these characters.

    Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
    06/20/08
    Paul Byrnes
    Paul Byrnes
    Sydney Morning Herald

    works best as an Italian dramedy with its history used as window dressing and any original thought kept happily to itself.

    Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
    03/28/08
    Chris Cabin
    Chris Cabin
    Filmcritic.com

    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
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    It's vibrantly shot throughout, with the handheld camerawork well suited to conveying Accio's impulsive behaviour.

    Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
    04/08/08
    Thomas Dawson
    Thomas Dawson
    BBC

    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

    This smart, engaging film shows how much political convictions are often rooted in the inchoate passions and early disappointments of youth.

    Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
    04/25/08
    Ken Fox
    Ken Fox
    TV Guide's Movie Guide

    Luchetti's craftsmanship is evident in the movie's fluid on-location cinematography, excellent production design, and its wonderful period score.

    Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
    03/26/08
    Maria Garcia
    Maria Garcia
    Film Journal International

    One hardly needs to have grown up Italian in the '60s to feel a pang of nostalgia watching My Brother Is an Only Child, Daniele Luchetti's tale of small-town brothers.

    Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
    04/16/08
    Owen Gleiberman
    Owen Gleiberman
    Entertainment Weekly
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
     
     
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