Unfolds like a novel full of characters we can't help but care about.
Comment
07/29/05
The Best of Youth (2005)
95
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:60
Fresh:57
Rotten:3
Average Rating:8.3/10
Consensus: Earns its 6 hours running time by telling an engrossing story with compelling characters.
Runtime: 6 hrs 40 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
US Box Office: $0
Synopsis: Spanning four decades, from the chaotic 1960s to the present, director Marco Tullio Giordana’s passionate epic THE BEST OF YOUTH follows two Italian brothers through some of the most tumultuous... [More]
Starring: Luigi Lo Cascio, Alessio Boni, Adriana Asti, Sonia Bergamasco
Director: Marco Tullio Giordana
Reviews for The Best of Youth
When the movie concludes, you can talk about these characters as if you actually know them -- which won't be far from the truth.
07/29/05
Few films have ever made better use of combining social and political history with romantic melodrama and suspense.
06/24/05
Best of Youth has the textures and depth of characterization of a great novel.
06/09/05
Its point is this: That every nation, like a family, is made up of many people who are often at odds with one another, but that ultimately, we are all one.
06/03/05
Top CriticA family that seems as real as your own relatives.
06/03/05
Top CriticFor six hours that seemed more like two, I was wrapped up in a human drama that was also a historical drama and a genuine wonder of filmmaking.
05/20/05
Despite many charming elements, this movie is not an example of good storytelling.
05/13/05
A brilliant, sprawling piece of cinematic art, and perhaps the best film of the year.
05/13/05
This film is either a profound investigation of recent Italian history and a loving look at the national psyche -- warts, poetry and all -- or else it's a really superb soap opera.
05/13/05
In the end, you'll be savouring an emotion not often engendered by film: tranquillity, a calm acceptance, tinged with joy and flecked with sadness, of life's up-and-down journey.
05/13/05
Giordana's redemptive vision provides a sense of discovery and a well of hope in the most devastating of troubles, and beautiful surprises in love, friendship and family.
05/12/05
A slowly flowering miracle: an epic of normal life.
05/06/05
The Best of Youth runs, though never dawdles, for an easy six hours, with barely a false note.
04/20/05
Top CriticBy the end of the film, it's as if I know these people, and I want to sit with them again for a few hours. Or six.
04/15/05
A beautiful, sprawling, wonderful story.
04/04/05
Top CriticSo in-depth, so appealing, so easy to sit through and so anomalously grand scale that few who see it will ever forget it.
04/01/05
I dropped outside of time and was carried along by the narrative flow; when the film was over, I had no particular desire to leave the theater, and would happily have stayed another three hours.
04/01/05
Top CriticIts storytelling style is as close to the novel form as you'll find on film, both a strengh and a weakness.
03/31/05
A major cinema event of the year, a masterpiece of Italian film traditions in social/political realism and historical family epic.
03/31/05
Latest News for The Best of Youth
April 05, 2006:
Breaking News: Movies Not Screened For Critics Aren't Very Good
After some furious debate over David Germain's discussion of films "not screened for critics," RT takes a look at the Tomatometers and respective B.O. performances of... More...
December 13, 2005:
Awards Season Gets Rolling with Crix Picks
If you're a fan of the late-year awards season, be sure to add Movie City News to your hit list, because they deliver some consistently excellent coverage. Mid-December is when... More...
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