The Best of Youth

This sprawling yet intimate Italian drama directed by Marco Tullio Giordana—originally intended as a TV series but reedited into a two-part, six-hour film—spans a half-century in the lives of two brothers. We first meet siblings Nicola (Luigi Lo Cascio) and Matteo (Alessio Boni) as idealistic young students in 1960s Rome, where the latter volunteers at a mental hospital and, with his brother's help, hatches a disastrous plan to free a mistreated female patient (Jasmine Trinca) with whom he's infatuated. The resulting misfire defines the remainder of their lives: an angry Matteo grows cold and cynical, turning into a hard-nosed cop, while Nicola becomes a doctor who campaigns for the rights of psychiatric patients. The storyline reflects Matteo's ambivalence over his brother's appropriation of a cause he himself once championed, and the ways in which it colors their relationship. The performances are heartfelt, with Lo Cascio and Boni effectively revealing their gradually evolving personalities in this satisfying, expansive film. Recommended. (E. Hulse)