Film

This impressive drama about two brothers whose lives diverge in the upheaval of the 1960s and ’70s shares its screenwriting team—Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli—with The Best of Youth, a gorgeous, sweeping six-hour 2004 saga (rent it now) that hit similar notes. In both cases, one brother ends up a leftist radical. In My Brother, the communist Manrico (Scamarcio) is counterbalanced by Accio (Germano), a hothead who goes from Catholic seminary to the fascist party. As you can imagine, things can get fairly tense around the dinner table.

Petraglia and Rulli have a knack for looking at big historical moments through the lens of individual characters. Accio bounces from the church to fascism and eventually to communism in a quest for something to believe in, an idea clearly conveyed by the wonderful Germano. Manrico is more of a rogue, whose commitment to communism at first seems only as important as chasing girls. Luchetti shrewdly conveys the gentle wit in the script, as when Accio flirts with his brother’s girlfriend Francesca (Fleri) by arguing politics. But Luchetti also knows how to shift into a more somber tone as the material darkens. The last act feels a little rushed, but the closing image, in which Accio reflects on his life thus far, brings a beautiful sense of closure.