The Big Dream

This glossy, coffee-table rendering of a university sit-in in 1968 Rome is the latest from ‘Romanzo Criminale’ director Placido, and compared to recent ‘student upheaval’ films like Bertolucci’s ‘The Dreamers’, its more of a moderately rousing history lesson than a radical call to arms. At its centre is the introverted Laura (Trinca) who must try and reconcile her conservative upbringing and love for cop-turned-actor Nicola (Scamarcio) with her secret involvement in countrywide industrial strike action. Episodic in structure and with a tranche of shoddily-characterised side characters, this rambling melodrama would've been much more satisfying had it not chosen to sit on the fence both emotionally and politically.