This Italian movie follows the story of a family in the 60's and 70's set against the neo-Fascist party/Communist movement upheaval, specifically of two brothers who choose opposite sides. It is at times funny, at times political (sometimes too political for my tastes), and at times dramatic. It is able to be what many movies cannot be, a true unity of different genres to make it its own thing. While the components may no longer be unique, the sum total certainly is. The story is rich and full and never boring; so much happens in this whirlwind of a movie as the main brother, Accio, grows up and changes that it is almost overwhelming, but not quite. The acting is adequate, but I did not find it exceptional. The cinematography and shot composition were also pretty good, but seemed somewhat bland after seeing the tons of other stunningly beautiful movies. The editing and music choices were perfect though and made the movie twice as good as it would have been without them. And the girl is just gorgeous.
Despite being up for Un Certain Regard, I thought that there were some negatives associated with the movie as well. There were so many characters that were supposed to be big but ended up with minimal screen time. For example, Mario, the guy who introduces Accio to the Fascist party, starts out in a role similar to Alfredo in Cinema Paradiso, but fades away for half of it and jumps back in for a little bit at the end. The movie is full of roles like that, characters whose involvement you hope for highly and end up never feeling satisfied by them. And with that, a lot of loose ends in terms of story and emotions are left loose, unfulfilled. The ending was a bit ridiculous, I think, and a bit too saccharine for me. Also, it didn't quite touch me as fully as I think it did some others in the audience. Even so, I enjoyed my time watching this movie immensely--the director seems like he's trying to return to the classical Italian film that Fellini began, and he doesn't have much farther to go.IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0846040/