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Movies / Upcoming / My Brother Is An Only Child
My Brother Is An Only Child

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My Brother Is An Only Child (2006)

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Reviews Counted:58

Fresh:50

Rotten:8

Average Rating:7/10

Consensus: Luchetti takes advantage of the storyline's historical context without sacrificing his cast's fine performances or the script's light wit.

Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: Already a smash in its native Italy, MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD, which was presented at this year’s Cannes and Toronto film festivals, reunites director Luchetti with longtime collaborators Sandro... Already a smash in its native Italy, MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD, which was presented at this year’s Cannes and Toronto film festivals, reunites director Luchetti with longtime collaborators Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli, best known as screenwriters of the highly acclaimed “The Best of Youth.” Set in a small Italian town in the 60’s and 70’s, the film tells the story of two brothers who want to change the world – but in completely different ways. The elder, Manrico (Riccardo Scarmaccio), is a handsome, charismatic firebrand who becomes the prime mover in the local Communist party. Accio, (Elio Germano) the younger, more rebellious brother, finds his own contrarian voice by joining the reactionary Fascists. What starts as a typical tale of sibling rivalry becomes the story of the polarizing and paralyzing politics of those turbulent times and, the rift between the brothers is further intensified when Accio realizes that he loves his brother’s girlfriend, Francesca (Diane Fleri) who, like everyone else, is blind to Manrico’s increasingly dangerous ideas. An intensely cinematic and incredibly incisive film about the dreams and disillusionments of the 60’s and 70’s, MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD is set in the exact era of the groundbreaking early classics of Bernardo Bertolucci and Marco Bellochio. Not only does Luchetti pay explicit homage to those films – “Before the Revolution,” “Fist in the Pocket,” and “China is Near” – he comes very close to matching their beauty, intelligence, and youthful exuberance. --© THINKFilm [More]

Starring: Angela Finocchiaro, Luca Zingaretti, Elio Germano, Riccardo Scamarcio

Starring: Angela Finocchiaro, Luca Zingaretti, Elio Germano, Riccardo Scamarcio, Diane Fleri, Alba Rohrwacher, Massimo Popolizio

Director: Daniele Luchetti

Director: Daniele Luchetti
Producer: Riccardo Tozzi, Giovanni Stabilini, Marco Chimenz
Screenwriter: Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli, Daniele Luchetti
Composer: Franco Piersanti
Studio: ThinkFilm

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Reviews for My Brother Is An Only Child

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1 - 20 (sorted by source; Australian critics are listed first)
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This is such a lovely film from writer/director Daniele Luchetti, nostalgic perhaps, but with that indefinable Italian whimsy that takes serious political themes and undermines them beautifully.

Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment Comment
06/13/08
Margaret Pomeranz
Margaret Pomeranz
At the Movies (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's an engrossing political love story, with a strong sense of the shadings within the daily lives of these characters.

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
06/20/08
Paul Byrnes
Paul Byrnes
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Fast-paced, well-acted and acute about sibling rivalry, the film nonetheless fails to leave a strong impression.

Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | comment Comment
06/20/08
Jake Wilson
Jake Wilson
The Age (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The performances are astonishing, perhaps enabled by the flawless script.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
06/12/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Tells a familiar story in a familiar way with conviction and no small amount of talent on both sides of the camera, though it's hardly essential.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
04/17/08
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

Despite the awards pedigree, the drama is a bit of a slog at times, with Accio taking seemingly ages to come of age, but nobody said growing up was easy.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
06/12/08
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

A coming-of-age story about a young man who – like the era he was born into – has no idea how to come of age, except by violent fits and starts, in all directions, to varying ends, and ready to change course whenever the mood strikes.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
05/16/08
Josh Rosenblatt
Josh Rosenblatt
Austin Chronicle

It's vibrantly shot throughout, with the handheld camerawork well suited to conveying Accio's impulsive behaviour.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/08/08
Thomas Dawson
Thomas Dawson
BBC

In a sense, the movie is about Accio's appreciation of the practical limits of ideology and the practical uses of rebellion, and it's a poignant realization.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
04/25/08
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe

Handsomely shot and astutely cast, My Brother Is an Only Child should achieve the same attention and success accorded to The Best of Youth, whose scriptwriters worked with Luchetti on this one.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
01/18/08
Richard Mowe
Richard Mowe
Boxoffice Magazine

"Only Child" is both funny and heartbreaking, and incredibly adept at shifting between lighter and darker tones.

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment Comment
06/11/08
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

My Brother Is An Only Child reminisces with improbable yet affecting fondness over the adolescents behind the -isms that would shape post-war Italy.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
03/27/08
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Channel 4 Film

The rough-and-tumble tone is bitterly entertaining but in the end doesn't contribute to a convincing historical portrait, and a pileup of half-baked resolutions spoils the buzz.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
04/25/08
Michael Atkinson
Michael Atkinson
Chicago Reader

The fey illogic in the title of My Brother is an Only Child hints at the style of this funny-sad film, which flips from dark to light moods and back with suave, unpredictable dexterity.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
04/10/08
Sid Smith
Sid Smith
Chicago Tribune

A handsomely-made, brightly charming pleasure.

Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment Comment
05/23/07
James Rocchi
James Rocchi
Cinematical

Politics takes a back seat in a jaunty comedy of a pair of brothers, one Communist and one Fascist, who come to a fraternal understanding too late.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
01/24/08
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

Made in the tradition of Italian films documenting the effects of shifting political contexts on personal and family lives, Luchetti's intelligent work at once pays homage to and belongs to seminal films by Bertolucci (Before the Revolution) and Bellochio

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
03/18/08
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Thanks to the captivating performances, this is well worth checking out.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/06/08
Ross Bennett
Ross Bennett
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One hardly needs to have grown up Italian in the '60s to feel a pang of nostalgia watching My Brother Is an Only Child, Daniele Luchetti's tale of small-town brothers.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
04/16/08
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly

Surprisingly funny, good-looking and a true showcase for the talents of rising star Elio Germano.

Full Review Source: european-films.net | comment Comment
05/21/07
Boyd van Hoeij
Boyd van Hoeij
european-films.net
 
 
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Latest News for My Brother Is An Only Child

March 25, 2008: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
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July 24, 2007: Mio fratelle e figlio unico (My Brother is an Only Child) - preview & trailer Opens in new window
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