The Best of Youth (2003)

• Year: 2003
• Released: 20 Jun 2003
• Country: Italy
• Adwords: 33 wins & 26 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346336/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_best_of_youth
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-best-of-youth
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: Italian, English, Norwegian
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Drama, Romance
• Runtime: 366 min
• Writer: Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli
• Director: Marco Tullio Giordana
• Cast: Luigi Lo Cascio, Alessio Boni, Jasmine Trinca
• Keywords: loss of loved one, post world war ii, society, family conflict, sicily, italy,

	8.5/10
	89/100

The Best of Youth Storyline

Chronological, from 1963 until 2003, moving around Italy, from Rome to the floods of Florence in 1966, student unrest in Turin, Mafia murders in Palermo, chance in Milan, plus two trips to Norway. Brothers Matteo and Nicola, of opposite temperament, try to free Giorgia, a teen, from a mental institution: their failure leads Nicola into psychiatry and Matteo to the police. In Florence, Nicola meets Giulia, a musician and leftist whose Red Brigade ties drive them apart after they have a child. In Palermo, Matteo meets Mirella, a photographer; they connect again in Rome. The film explores love, family, friendship, politics, mental illness, tragedy, and opportunities to forgive and to heal.

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Emotionally Gripping Mini-Series Of Italians Within Recent History

“Best of Youth (La Meglio gioventù)” proves that Italians have learned the art of the long-form television mini-series that the British have long mastered.

Covering a somewhat same period of the baby boom generation as “In A Land of Plenty,” it has more of the generational feel of individuals caught up in history as we have usually seen in British mini-series about end-of-the-eras or World War I, such as “Brideshead Revisited” and “Jewel in the Crown.” U.S. mini-series were more successful as sweeping historical epics, even when they were also family sagas like “Roots” and “Centennial;” when the networks tried to interpret more recent history, as in “The Sixties,” the set characters sped through “Zelig” and “Forest Gump”-like in happening to be at the right place at the right time; perhaps the several seasons combined of the NBC series “American Dreams” could be considered comparable in showing how the times that are a-changing affect a family.

“Best of Youth” is being released in the U.S. in movie theaters, though I’m not sure even shown in two parts of three hours each how edited it is from the original format, as other grand European mini-series like “Berlin Alexanderplatz,” “Das Boot” and “Fanny and Alexander” were originally only shown in the U.S. in truncated theatrical versions as even PBS seems averse to television with subtitles so we rarely get to see the best of world television. Comparison to the Italian film “The Leopard” is unfair as that was not created in the same format and covers a shorter period of historical time.

“Best of Youth” combines charismatic acting, leisurely directing amidst beautiful scenery in several parts of Italy with writing that takes the trajectories of complex yet consistent characters’ lives believably and searingly affected by uniquely Italian experiences of the baby boomers’ young adult years through middle age, without the American tendency to reject or regret youthful ambitions, through the lens of local natural disasters, violent political activities, judicial battles against the Cosa Nostra, European economic changes, with regional variations, that Americans rarely see in movies.

The focus is primarily on two brothers from the 1960’s almost to the present, played by two actors who must be the equivalent of George Clooney and Richard Chamberlain in Italian television. Alessio Boni in particular as Matteo captures the screen with such tortured macho dynamism that it’s no wonder he’s gone on to play Heathcliff and Dracula in other mini-series. His Paul Newman-like startling blue eyes become a talking point of the series and a continuing visual leitmotif. Similarly, the physical differences between the two actors help to point up the different paths the brothers take through life, even as the casting of other family members to look like them is eerily effective.

The series is particularly good at capturing the camaraderie amongst old male friends over the years and the intimate interactions of members of a family, particularly with children, with a strong theme of the importance of both as an anchor.

Unlike in American TV where women are adjuncts as the girlfriend/wife/mother, the key women here are crucial fulcrums in the brothers’ lives and have separate intellectual, psychological and emotional demands.

The emotions are important here — grief is shown very movingly, with more pain and tears than American culture usually allows. In one extended scene, we see a grieving mother walk slowly up a long flight of stairs in numbed silence and gradually see her revive as she learns of surprise news about her son.

There are of course some coincidences of family members’ and friends’ paths crossing at key junctures, but the story overall grips us.

The pop music selections,American, European and Italian, are wonderfully evocative.

Simply a great drama…

I waste a lot of time reviewing cute but rubbishy science fiction and horror films on this site. I’m a bit out of practice with watching, and critiquing, actual drama! But of course, I still realize that the key to great drama is the characters – and they make this epic Italian miniseries-turned-movie work, and work beautifully at that.

“The Best of Youth” focuses on various members of the Carati family and their friends, advancing from the 1960s to the near-present as it chronicles their lives in the context of social turmoil in Italy as a whole. For the most part, the story never drags, and every single character is compelling and sympathetic.

Many of the character have flaws, but they’re not bad people – just complex. Many tragic things happen, but the film never wallows in misery, except on one wholly justified occasion. Moral conflicts are explored not in black-and-white, but in shades of grey. In other words, “The Best of Youth” is rich with the kind of warmth, complexity and subtle nuances that you tend to miss in most American dramas – even the ones that win Oscars.

I won’t spoil the plot, really – I’ll just say that both of the main characters, brothers Matteo and Nicola Carati, are charismatic and cool and well worth six hours of screen time. They’re also very different, which keeps things interesting.

Are there any significant flaws here? Nah, not really. My interest waned a bit during some segments, particularly the historical ones that aren’t explained that well. There’s also a bit of cheesy makeup and blue screen, but that can be excused because this is really a TV production, as I understand it, not a big movie. Besides, I sort of love production flaws. They’re fun, aren’t they?

On a totally pointless note, I’d like to mention a strange plus of “The Best of Youth” – much of the cast is totally gorgeous. Guys and gals alike have reason to rejoice here…

One final random thought. While I’m glad that “The Best of Youth” was distributed and well-received in the U.S., I’m annoyed that it was publicized as being “like the Godfather” or “like the works of Scorcese.” It’s nothing like the Godfather, it’s nothing like Scorcese. The marketers seemed to have believed, unfortunately, that U.S. audiences are only interested in Italian criminals, not normal Italian people. This sort of irritates me. (Note my surname and you’ll figure out why!) But such concerns have nothing to do with the actual movie, which is pretty much flawless.

the face of the show

It starts in 1966 Rome. Nicola and Matteo Carati are on the verge of adulthood. Matteo volunteers at a mental hospital where he takes an interest in troubled patient Giorgia. The brothers believe that she has been abused with electro-shock therapy. This mini-series follows the brothers as they navigate life, love, and turmoil. Matteo joins the military and then the police. Nicola becomes a psychiatrist and have a child with Giulia who turns into a political radical. Nicola would meet up with Giorgia again. This time she is tied down to a bed like many of the other patients.

The first part of this series centers around the intriguing character of Giorgia. To be frank, she’s the face on the poster and the face of the show. Her predicament draws in the audience. Then she disappears from the show. The brothers’ story moves on. Their lives meander and take differing turns. Some of it is interesting but I kept wondering what happened to Giorgia until the series crosses path with her again. I would be more interested in this life-story epic if it deals more with her. Nevertheless, it has interesting turns and has an epic feel for the personal stories.