Review #12 – My Brother is an Only Child

Cinema CNC showed My Brother is an Only Child on Saturday to an appreciative audience... director Daniele Luchetti's work isn't seen too often on this side of the Atlantic, which is too bad... as a matter of fact, there haven't been too many Italian films in general release for the past few years; as North America rediscovers French film and starts to appreciate Spanish productions, Italian film seems to have been overlooked.

Well, let's just say that this film goes a long way both to suggest that film is not currently dead in Italy and to make strong reference to great Italian films of the past. I found myself thinking of Fellini, De Sica, Rossellini, and Pasolini at different moments during the film, not because of lack of engagement, but because of the comfortingly familiar way that Luchetti constructs his movie. My friend David mentioned a French/Spanish connection too; in one scene the entire family walks down the road, bickering, which brought to his mind Luis Buñuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.

On with the story... two brothers, Accio and Manrico, compete over everything: physical dominance, politics, family affection, women. Accio is at a disadvantage; he is younger and has a somewhat-unpleasant demeanor. Manrico, beside having natural personal charm, is blessed with matinee-idol looks [which will serve Riccardo Scamarcio, the actor portraying him, well]. There is a sister as well, Violetta who is a whiz on the cello, but she doesn't have enough screen time to seem fully realized as a character. This brings me to a small criticism of the film... it drags a bit at times, primarily, I think, because the director tried a little too hard to stay true to the source, a novel [Il Fasciocomunista, by Antonio Pennacchi], and we all know the vagaries of this pursuit as demonstrated so often elsewhere. That being said, that this movie was born of a literary source is generally a strength. The family dynamics can be seen as a microcosm of Italian society in the mid-to-late 60s. The Benassi family is leftist; Manrico is adored by his parents for leading a revolt at the factory where he works. To rebel, Accio studies to be a priest... his lack of success seems to be predicated on the fact that he finds God to be too forgiving, which leads him, seemingly naturally, to his next rebellion: joining the fascist party, under the tutelage of his friend, Mario, a tablecloth salesman who adores Mussolini.

Accio [mis]spends his time looking for a place to fit in, and Manrico always seems to fit in; however, the simplicity of this equation becomes more complicated both literally and figuratively. Viewers' sympathies are toyed with here; we like Manrico, but the film is, ultimately, told from Accio's point-of-view. Figuratively, these young men represent the somewhat-scrambled nature of Italian society in this period, presented both sympathetically and somewhat parodically, as in the revolutionary rendition of Ode to Joy performed during a student occupation in an academy in Rome, with lyrics altered to praise Mao, Lenin, and all things communist.

Accio and Manrico compete for the affections of Francesca [played by Diane Fleri] of the luminous smile. This battle plays out in a non-stereotypic fashion which gives greater interest to the characters involved and leads to disasterous result within the film [I'll say no more, for fear of giving something away].

Another sub-story that would be all-too-familiar to anyone living in Italy in the 60s is that the Benassi family, and everyone else they know, is in a state of suspended social animation, waiting for promised social housing that never seems to be available. Their frustration boils over in a suprising and satisfying manner, bringing the symbolic and the real social situations of Italian life together.

My Brother is an Only Child entertains and enlightens; despite a couple of spots where the story drags a little, we get to see a slice of life worth observing... one of the movie-goers I know quite well said, "they sure did yell a lot, didn't they?" to which I said, "have you been to Italy?" And you have, if you've seen this film.