Though it's well-cast and convincingly captures the look and feel of its era, the film loses steam as Accio's story meanders to a predictable conclusion.
My Brother Is An Only Child (2006)
Tomatometer
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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
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.
This smart, engaging film shows how much political convictions are often rooted in the inchoate passions and early disappointments of youth.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The film's biggest failure isn't Accio's constant contentiousness, nor the story's dense political center. Rather, it's the script's tendency to wander.
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.
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.
It's vibrantly shot throughout, with the handheld camerawork well suited to conveying Accio's impulsive behaviour.
manages to evoke, but never trivialise, the mad, internecine conflicts of recent Italian political history
Thanks to the captivating performances, this is well worth checking out.
If some of this sounds like stereotypical Italian behavior, and if in fact My Brother Is an Only Child has a weakness for abrupt and melodramatic plot devices, it has other virtues that make it truly satisfying.
Yep, it's your typical shouty Italian movie, though this time presented with sharp humor and an effortless cinematic verity by director Daniele Luchetti.
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.
Engaging, sharply directed drama with a strong script and superb performances, though you occasionally feel you're missing out on a deeper meaning.
works best as an Italian dramedy with its history used as window dressing and any original thought kept happily to itself.
My Brother Is an Only Child is a politically charged family drama set in Italy in the 1960s and 1970s -- think The Best of Youth (director Daniele Luchetti collaborated with that epic film's writers) at a more butt-friendly running time.
My Brother Is an Only Child is a lively minor addendum to the grand tradition of Italian fraternal cinema.
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March 25, 2008:
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July 24, 2007:
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