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.
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.
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
Reviews for My Brother Is An Only Child
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.
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.
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.
It's vibrantly shot throughout, with the handheld camerawork well suited to conveying Accio's impulsive behaviour.
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.
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.
"Only Child" is both funny and heartbreaking, and incredibly adept at shifting between lighter and darker tones.
My Brother Is An Only Child reminisces with improbable yet affecting fondness over the adolescents behind the -isms that would shape post-war Italy.
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.
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.
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.
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
Thanks to the captivating performances, this is well worth checking out.
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.
Surprisingly funny, good-looking and a true showcase for the talents of rising star Elio Germano.
Luchetti's craftsmanship is evident in the movie's fluid on-location cinematography, excellent production design, and its wonderful period score.
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
works best as an Italian dramedy with its history used as window dressing and any original thought kept happily to itself.
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March 25, 2008:
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July 24, 2007:
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