There's a wonderful scene in Daniele Luchetti’s drama, set in the small-town Italy of the Sixties and early Seventies, when a crowd of Communists listen spellbound to a version of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, with new words that reflect their stirring if naïve Leninist ideals.
But as the orchestra plays and the singer emotes, local Fascists burst into the hall to bay for the great Mussolini.
Though Luchetti, who made the superb, four-hour long The Best of Youth, isn’t making a political film, her feeling for this turbulent time is what makes My Brother memorable.
Made in Italian, it is based on Antonio Pennacchi’s ironic book, Il Fasciocomunista, and is principally about two brothers — Accio (Elio Germano) is a Communist while Manrico (Elio Germano) dabbles in Fascism.
Both happen to love the same girl (Diane Fleri), and both are a trouble to their working-class parents, to each other and to the object of their desire.
Beneath the quarrels, however, the two brothers have a lasting regard for each other. Fifteen years of Italian history pass by as we witness their adventures, and note that neither is a villain; despite their political differences, they are very like each other.
While you could say that the novel has had to be a little too compressed to fit into 100 minutes of screen time, and The Best of Youth is arguably the better film, this is still an intelligent, observant and well acted piece of work from one of the best new Italian directors.
My Brother Is An Only Child (Mio Fratello E Figlio Unico)
