ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Abegail Noëlle While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

CornellWatcher It is difficult for me to write a review right now explaining why this is one of the best films I've ever seen while giving it the justice it has earned. The Best of Youth which was directed with perfection by Marco Tullio Giordana and stars Luigi Lo Cascio and Alessio Boni, is a grand epic that is unforgettable. Knowing little about the story and its characters I was unprepared by how the powerful soul of this beautiful film would affect me! The narrative begins in Italy with Nicola (Cascio) and Matteo Carati (Boni) who are brothers growing into adulthood during the 1960s when the country is undergoing major political change. It is a heartfelt tale that elevates itself into something more than a traditional family drama with Nicola and Matteo serving as our guides through the development of their country and family as the two progress into the 2000s.To start off, I loved the script for the film that was written by Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli. Every scene, shot, and character flowed with a genuine humanity that I wish most films had. The Best of Youth is also a bildungsroman that is in tradition with Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind," that it chronicles the lives and experiences of the characters coming of age during an important political era. For example, in the beginning the brothers are separated for a time and are reunited once again in Florence during the dreadful 1966 Arno River Flood. These characters become apart of you as their story becomes your story. A viewer can look at the Carati family and immediately find a familiarity in their lives that we recognize in our own identities.As I said above, Giordana's direction is flawless as he invites us to feel the pleasures, nuances, and conflicts of the era he is depicting. With the extraordinary photography by Roberto Forza, Giordana captures the best parts of Italy without manipulating the look and feel of the country to the point that the film's images have a documentary style. Whether the film is shooting coverage of Palermo, the Coliseum in Rome, or the beautiful island of Stromboli, Giordana captures the beauty of Italy in it's simplicity. As a result I was almost convinced that the film was covering the lives of real people.Focusing on the beautiful ensemble cast, every actor gives the best work of their career. In addition to the tender, powerful performances of Cascio and Boni, all of the women in The Best of Youth play some of the best female characters caught on screen. Jasmine Trinca is heartbreaking as the mentally vulnerable Giorgia who helps define the relationship of the two brothers. Sonia Bergamasco is enigmatic as Giulia who's twisted political views drive her away from becoming a mother to Nicola's child. A wonderful surprise is Maya Sansa as Mirella who exhibits such a genuine warmth and luminescence as the woman the two brothers eventually find love in. There was never a moment during my viewing of the film when these characters failed to hold my attention, or suspend my belief. I truly cared about them even after the last frame rolled.I could talk about The Best of Youth for days which should be enough for you to go out and see the film for yourself. It is definitely one of the great masterpieces of Italian cinema that belongs with the work of other great directors such as Vittorio De Sica (Bicycle Thieves, Umberto D.). It is one of my favorite films, and should be watched by anyone who can spare the six hour running time. I guarantee you will love this film as the characters become apart of your life. An emotional, powerful epic that reminds the viewer why we go to the movies in the first place.

jdeureka You need to exhaust a dictionary of adjectives to do justice to the delicacy, the nuanced quality, of this film. It has a breathless way of dealing with the most essential human emotions. Nothing is vulgar or tawdry. There is a sublime sense of place (which could only be Italy -- but not only in this time period). This is a must see film because it sees into the viewer. It exposes and bears witness to our common human experience -- with perfectly light and deep paintbrush strokes that move gracefully unrushed. It is, by far, one of the most generous films I have ever seen because it bares the soul of emotions and thoughts without casting judgement on them. For lack of a better phrase, it is overflowing with love. But not cloying or sticky or possessive "love". Because "Best of Youth" teaches that life lived at its best is not this way. Life is the vitality of love one knows in youth and should keep forever. See it. Thank you.

satanetto As an Italian who goes abroad sometimes, I was often confronted with people asking me how come I had not seen this movie. And I had pretty much liked "I Cento Passi" and "Pasolini un delitto italiano", and loved "Maledetti vi amero'", from the same director. Still, there was something in the way people spoke about this movie that made me doubt. Or maybe it was something about the kind of people who liked it. While watching this movie you realize that there are three families that are involved in pretty much every important event in contemporary Italian history. One is more a collection of families, called Cosa Nostra. The other one is a peculiar kind of family: a fraternity called P2, which is ruling the country by now. The third one? It's the Carati family, of course! From the red terrorism of late 70's to the bombs of early 90's, there seem to be no major event where they are not directly involved. Does it seem an unlikely kind of plot? Well, if you package it as a neat and cheesy TV product it seems to work pretty well, given the amount of enthusiastic reviews and high rates it received here. Plus, it's 6 hrs long, so it must be good cinema, right? I must admit I was initially captured by the '68 scenes. It must have been the music. As the reel went on I quickly realized that the young rebels being portrayed were of those kind that made Pasolini stand for the police: well grown and well fed sons-of-someone bourgeois. But look, they're so open and tolerant with the lower class, they even have a friend who's not studying (Vitale). The more it went on, the more I was appalled by the TV-ish acting (all except maybe Lo Cascio). Wanna look angry? Curl your eyebrows and talk louder, it will work. (SPOILER) I was soon emotionally detached from the whole thing to the point that I cheered when the cop jumped out of the window. And when the aging bourgeois Nicola calls the now successful builder Vitale to restructure the "casale" he bought on the Tuscany hills.. oh, my heart was filled sheer proletarian rage.

Thagusta I've had the biggest trouble rating this movie, First of all the characters depicted in this movie are superb, complex, deep, sad, brilliantly acted, etc. I've never seen a movie that has so many complex characters. Lots of praise.Second, the pictures are most of the time very, very beautiful, everything has been thought of, in the smallest detail. Lots of praise for this as well.You'd say, why don't you give this movie 10 out of 10 then? because of the plot. The plot is good, though, I believe they could've done a better job, some plot points aren't as good as they could be, and some parts of the plot have been overreacted, especially the sad parts, some other (better parts) of the plot flash by, which is a pity.This is the reason I had such a hard time voting, plot is way worse than the acting, the characters, the pictures, the soundtrack, etc. characters: 10/10 acting: 10/10 plot: 7/10 result: 8/10I would recommend this movie to anyone, and in particular people who love drama, just a story of a person. Or to people that like great soundtracks, or to people that like beautiful pictures in movies, etc. etc.Funny part: At the end of the movie, the mother (Giuglia) looks younger than the daughter, well, she has got gray hair, but that's about it, no wrinkles, nothing. It's hard to make people age 40 years in one movie, I know, so, director, you have my respect for Adriana, because she really ages perfectly, although when you look carefully, you do see she's only in her 30s instead of her 70s... :)