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| My Brother Is an Only Child | |||
“Set in a small town in Italy during the 1960s and 70s, the film depicts the relationship between two brothers, Accio and Manrico, caught up in the political conflicts of Italy’s recent past. A wiry, tough-guy drop-out from a seminary, the teenage Accio swaps his faith in Catholicism for support for fascism when he starts hanging out with an older admirer of Il Duce. Pretty soon he’s attending black-shirt rallies and goading the local communists, much to the fury of Manrico, a left-wing firebrand played with smouldering charisma by Riccardo Scamarcio… In its unabashed reference to recent Italian history My Brother recalls Marco Tullio Giordana’s epic The Best of Youth, which also revolved around two ideologically opposed brothers. But this is a glossier, more audience-friendly affair, that is as concerned with Accio’s coy crush on Manrico’s beguiling liberal girlfriend Francesca as it is with changing political times. There are plenty of broad-brush but effective jokes at the expense of Accio and Manrico’s fanaticism – the Communist version of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” sung at a student rally is a hilarious send-up of 70s political correctness. But it’s in the relationship between the two siblings—warm, poignant, beautifully played by Germano and Scamarcio—that the film impresses. Sweet and soft as a slice of panetone, My Brother is an Only Child is exemplary family melodrama of the kind the Italians do so effortlessly.” – Ed Lawrenson, Time Out |
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| Mio fratello è figlio unico, Italy/France 2007 | |||
Director: Daniele Luchetti With: Elio Germano (Accio), Riccardo Scamarcio (Manrico), Diane Fleri (Francesca), Alba Rohrwacher (Violetta), Angela Finocchiaro (mother), Massimo Popolizio (father) 100 mins, DV (16:9) In Italian, with English subtitles M violence, sexual references, offensive language Pukekohe Film Society |
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