The Best Of Youth
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: D Film: B-
An epic feature film that might have been a TV mini-series
otherwise, Marco Tullio Giordana’s The Best Of Youth is an ambitious
epic production about two brothers who are torn apart by ideology and history,
the latter of which serves as a backdrop to the drama. The history is covered and flushed out well,
but when it is made secondary, it usually fails. Sure, the idea of the link between happiness and youth, no matter
what age, has been covered before and this film is not bad in that
respect. However, the film tries and
has some good moments throughout.
No, the film is not done with the skill that a David Lean
would have applied (think Dr. Zhivago) or the symbolism it should have had
under any circumstances. However, it is
not totally bogged down its length and that in itself is an achievement, but I
do not think it is the masterwork some have tried to sell it or pin it as. Basically, it does almost everything well,
but not with any truly memorable moments or either sense or achievement of
greatness. It is still above many TV
mini-series and if you can handle the length, then try it. If not, that would be understandable, though
I did like just about all the performances.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is not bad,
often colorful and certainly naturalistic, as the cinematography of Roberto
Forza goes from decade to decade. The
Dolby Digital 2.0 Italian and French Stereo has Pro Logic surrounds and is
nicely recorded throughout. There are
no extras, but after over six hours, you might not miss them as much.
- Nicholas Sheffo
