One of the great joys of a cinephile is the discovery of a formidable film made by a hitherto unknown director. Of course, it’s the cinephile’s problem, that is, mine, if I haven’t known the name of Italian director Marco Tullio Giordana so far, and if I saw after such a long delay ‘La meglio gioventu‘ (the English title is ‘The Best of Youth‘) made in 2003. The duration of the film may have intimidated distributors and he may not have enjoyed commercial screenings in the country where I live. Its six hours led Roger Ebert (who liked the film a lot and gave it four out of four stars) to write that good movies are never too long. I can only agree with him. ‘La meglio gioventu‘ is a cinematic saga of almost four decades of Italian history told through the story of a middle-class family that witnesses and participates in all the major upheavals and events of the era. The film is excellently written and acted and its duration gives the characters time to develop, to involve their viewers, to conquer them. At the end of the viewing we know and feel many of them as part of our families.
The story takes place between 1966 and 2003 and follows the destiny of three generations the Carati family, and especially of the middle generation that comes to life in the tumultuous end of the decade of the 60s. . The little sister will marry an important figure in the world of finance. The two brothers, Nicola (Luigi Lo Cascio) and Matteo (Alessio Boni) are very close at first, but their paths will split. Plans to travel with her friends in Norway to the Arctic Circle are interrupted by the appearance of Giorgia (Jasmine Trinca), a girl who escaped from a psychiatric asylum where she was abusively treated with electric shocks. The boys’ attempt to help her fails, and the two react differently. Nicola resumes the trip to Norway but will not finish it. He devoted himself to medical studies and became a psychiatrist, under the influence of the trauma caused by the fate of Georgia. Matteo abandons his literature studies, enlists in the army, from here he joins the police, and will be pursued by the feeling of failure and the impossibility to communicate and implement his ideals. The years go by, the family is not spared by tragedies, love stories interfere and generation of children appears asking questions about the world they inherit and about the gap between the ideals of their parents’ youth and reality. In the background, a country torn by conflict, gnawed by corruption and political violence.
The quality of the film comes from two main sources. First of all, the screenwriters manage to realistically and truthfully describe each of the historical periods and create credible characters, with interesting personal stories, who interact naturally and gain empathy in the relationship with the spectators. The production is impeccable down to the last detail. The locations, the interiors, the objects, the clothes, the music, the speak of the characters – all are authentic to the point of giving a feeling of immersion. Acting is excellent, each of the actors gives life to his or her character and creates credible images in different periods of life, even if some of the makeups are not perfect. Narrative lines develop in parallel and fates intersect naturally at key moments. I can’t say that the soap opera effects are completely avoided, especially in the final part of the film, but I think it’s one of the cases where melodrama works, more than this, it’s really welcome. ‘La meglio gioventu‘ is a case of a historical saga combined with good quality soap opera elements, a beautiful and captivating film about recent Italy.