La Meglio Gioventù (part 1)
One of the most successful films in Lumière’s history returns to the big screen after twenty years: a family chronicle around the lives of two brothers, set against the backdrop of forty years of modern Italian history.
Two brothers, Nicola and Matteo, share the same hopes, the same dreams, they enjoy the same books and friends, until an encounter with a disturbed young woman, Giorgia, decides the fate of both of them. Nicola decides to become a psychiatrist, Matteo abandons his studies to become a policeman. Though their love for each other never wavers, they are to follow radically divergent paths in pursuit of similar goals.
Their lives are beautifully embedded in the complicated history of Italy in the second half of the 20th century. Originally screened as a mini-series on Italian television, LA MEGLIO GIOVENTÙ became enormously popular throughout Europe in the theatrical, six-hour version, which has now been re-released in cinemas. The fates of the two brothers are still well worth watching. Despite the tough times back then, hope for the future glimmered. (av)