The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part
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Luchetti takes advantage of the storyline's historical context without sacrificing his cast's fine performances or the script's light wit.
All Critics (63) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (53) | Rotten (10)
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.
The film, which argues that blood brotherhood is stronger than political brotherhoods, vibrates with their youthful energy and ardor.
It's an engrossing political love story, with a strong sense of the shadings within the daily lives of these characters.
Fast-paced, well-acted and acute about sibling rivalry, the film nonetheless fails to leave a strong impression.
The linkage in this movie between politics and family dynamics is a point well taken, but the movie -- whose sense of frenetic activity going nowhere is captured by Luchetti's buoyant camera -- does go on and on before anyone learns anything.
Sometimes, under a torrent of social pressures, water runs faster, if not thicker, than blood, and even the strongest bonds drown in the flood.
What could have been a complex examination of Italy's political divisions in the 1960s and '70s is reduced to two brothers' ceaseless one-upmanship.
A film as incisive as it is delectable about the dreams and disappointments of adolescence, the passion of youth and the surprise of unexpected love. [Full review in Spanish]
Actors Germano and Scamarcio turn in magnificent, multilayered acting jobs.
A merry swirl of vital, passionate performances.
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.
The performances are astonishing, perhaps enabled by the flawless script.
Another fabulous film out of Italy that is a picture of the politics of the era when extreme points of view were advocated by those who would seek to deal with plodding governments. In this case, it is personal with different members of the family gravitating to the left and right. It sparkles.
Super Reviewer
In this movie everything seems right... it was well directed by Daniele Luchetti, perfectly written by him and Sandro Petraglia with Stefano Rulli and all roles were superbly played by Elio Germano (Accio), Riccardo Scamarcio (Manrico), Diane Fleri (Francesca), Alba Rohrwacher (Violetta), Angela Finocchiaro (Mother) and Massimo Popolizio (Father). Some of the best social dramas I've seen in my life were Italian made, and this one should be in the top 10 - it has it all: class struggle, ideological warfare, political contention, you name it - and most of it is expressed through sibling rivalry. The director sets the stage for a morality play or maybe some kind of a family melodrama, but he manages to show us on that stage materialized violence or grief... and all seems natural, done in breezy and raffish maner! Explosions of the sibling rivalry between the brothers are regular while they make their choices in life. Did someone said the life is like a rollercoaster? A film with a message... a film which will make you think! Enjoy watching it!
[font=Century Gothic]"There's nothing in the middle of road but yellow lines and dead armadillos." - Jim Hightower[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"My Brother Is An Only Child" starts in 1962 in Italy where Accio Benassi(Elio Germano) is in a seminary studying to be a priest. He does well until he discovers masturbation and quits, reasoning that priests should be pure.(Good luck with that, by the way.) Returning home, he learns that his parents(Angela Finocchiaro & Massimo Popolizio) will not let him study Latin, instead forcing him to go to technical school, so he can learn something practical. To make matters worse, his sister Violetta(Alba Rohrwacher) is allowed to pursue the cello. Temporarily running away solves nothing but joining up with the Fascists through Mario(Luca Zingaretti) at least gives him a sense of purpose. It also gives him a point of argument with his older brother Manrico(Riccardo Scamarcio) and his cute girlfriend Francesca(Diane Fleri), both Communists.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"My Brother Is An Only Child" is an engaging examination of radical politics in Italy in the 1960's, minus the cliches, musical cues and references to historical events which takes the movie down to a personal level. Throughout, the Communists and Fascists appear to resemble little more than rival street gangs(you could make a pretty good Romeo and Juliet story out of this). They are fighting for the present as the Communists represent an idealized future while the Fascists represent a nonexistent past. Regardless, the movie makes a potent argument against violence waged for any cause.[/font]
differing political ideologies of communism versus fascism can not sever the bonds between two brothers. very moving and well acted film.
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