Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Elio Germano | ... | Accio Benassi | |
Riccardo Scamarcio | ... | Manrico Benassi | |
Angela Finocchiaro | ... | Amelia Benassi | |
Massimo Popolizio | ... | Ettore Benassi | |
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Ascanio Celestini | ... | Padre Cavalli |
Diane Fleri | ... | Francesca | |
Alba Rohrwacher | ... | Violetta Benassi | |
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Vittorio Emanuele Propizio | ... | Accio adolescent |
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Claudio Botosso | ... | Prof. Montagna |
Antonino Bruschetta | ... | Segretario Bombacci (as Ninni Bruschetta) | |
Anna Bonaiuto | ... | Bella Nastri | |
Luca Zingaretti | ... | Mario Nastri | |
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Pasquale Sammarco | ... | Padre Tosi |
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Lorenzo Pagani | ... | Bertini |
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Matteo Sacchi | ... | Ragazzo Biliardino |
Two brothers come of age in the 1960s in a town south of Rome. Manrico is handsome, sometimes feckless, a leftist making the revolution. His younger brother Accio ("Bully") is a seminarian when the story beings, soon home studying Latin and joining the Fascists. Francesca, an aristocratic student, becomes Manrico's lover and Accio's friend. Over the next ten years, these three experience family, love, attraction, politics, and the challenges of adult responsibility. Subplots include Nastri, a father figure and political guide to Accio, Nastri's wife Bella who guides Accio in other ways, and the brothers' parents and sister, who are dazzled by Manrico's charm while depending on Accio. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
I rushed to see this movie, with Elio Germano, perhaps the best Italian actor of his generation, and Riccardo Scamarcio, the heartthrob of the moment. I got upset about the rejection from the snobbish Cannes Festival and I wanted to see the film by myself. Now, after having seen it, unfortunately, I have to agree with the Cannes decision. The film is a tired rehash of other books/films/TV done indifferently and boringly with two saving graces: Elio Germano's and Angela Finocchiaro's performances. The rest is, quite frankly, unendurable. The film felt long, long, long and I got more and more impatient and eventually angry with the whole thing. The Italian cinema that once was a power force of inspiring themes and ideas seems to have arrived to a total dead stop. The artists, I feel, with something new to say, like Libero Di Rienzo - have you seen his "Sangue" with Elio Germano as well? No, I bet you haven't. It was released in secrecy and for my money, his movie had something new to say in a totally new exciting way. I fear we, in Italy, can't move forward because we're trapped in some king of structure that it's terrified of new ideas. As a consequence we have films like this one. A throw back to the past and not in a nice way. Cannes? Are you nuts?