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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 source)
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    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

    Despite the awards pedigree, the drama is a bit of a slog at times, with Accio taking seemingly ages to come of age, but nobody said growing up was easy.

    Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
    06/12/08
    Phil Villarreal
    Phil Villarreal
    Arizona Daily Star

    This is such a lovely film from writer/director Daniele Luchetti, nostalgic perhaps, but with that indefinable Italian whimsy that takes serious political themes and undermines them beautifully.

    Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment Comment
    06/13/08
    Margaret Pomeranz
    Margaret Pomeranz
    At the Movies (Australia)

    A coming-of-age story about a young man who – like the era he was born into – has no idea how to come of age, except by violent fits and starts, in all directions, to varying ends, and ready to change course whenever the mood strikes.

    Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
    05/16/08
    Josh Rosenblatt
    Josh Rosenblatt
    Austin Chronicle

    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

    In a sense, the movie is about Accio's appreciation of the practical limits of ideology and the practical uses of rebellion, and it's a poignant realization.

    Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
    04/25/08
    Wesley Morris
    Wesley Morris
    Boston Globe
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Handsomely shot and astutely cast, My Brother Is an Only Child should achieve the same attention and success accorded to The Best of Youth, whose scriptwriters worked with Luchetti on this one.

    Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
    01/18/08
    Richard Mowe
    Richard Mowe
    Boxoffice Magazine

    "Only Child" is both funny and heartbreaking, and incredibly adept at shifting between lighter and darker tones.

    Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment Comment
    06/11/08
    Rob Thomas
    Rob Thomas
    Capital Times (Madison, WI)

    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

    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

    The fey illogic in the title of My Brother is an Only Child hints at the style of this funny-sad film, which flips from dark to light moods and back with suave, unpredictable dexterity.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
    04/10/08
    Sid Smith
    Sid Smith
    Chicago Tribune

    A handsomely-made, brightly charming pleasure.

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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    If the political backdrop is not alienating, Accio's actions might be. As he swings from one side of the pendulum to the other, he remains at arm's length

    Full Review Source: Film-Forward.com | comment Comment
    03/28/08
    Kent Turner
    Kent Turner
    Film-Forward.com

    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
     
     
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