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The Best of Youth | 2005 | R | - 6.5.5

Italian film that follows two brothers between 1966-2003 and shows how the choices they made affected the course of their lives: The free-spirited Nicola (Luigi Lo Cascio) travels the world and becomes a successful psychiatrist, while his introverted and idealistic brother Matteo (Alessio Boni) becomes a police officer, hoping to right society's wrongs. Also with Adriana Asti, Sonia Bergamasco and Fabrizio Gifuni. Directed by Marco Tullio Giordana. In Italian with English subtitles. [6:06]

SEX/NUDITY 6 - A man tunes to a pornographic television station and a woman wearing a corset begins to remove her clothing (her bare breasts are shown). A nude man (we see his bare buttocks and back) climbs into bed with a woman (we see her bare back), they kiss and roll around briefly.
 Several people take off their clothes (we see bare buttocks and breasts) and they dance around while singing.
 A woman takes off her coat, lies on a bed, a man climbs on top of her, they kiss passionately, she rolls on top of him and it is implied that they have sex. A woman kisses a man, they kiss passionately, they remove each other's clothing (we see his bare back and her bare shoulders) and it is implied that they have sex. A woman (a prostitute) lies in a bed wrapped in a sheet, a man comes into the room and she asks him to get undressed; we then see them lying in bed together, she lies on top of him and it is implied that they have sex.
 We see a photograph of a nude man and woman (we see her bare breasts and part of their buttocks) riding a Vespa. A woman undresses behind a sheet (nothing is visible), a woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage, and a young woman's top is short and reveals bare abdomen. A man is shown in his underwear.
 A woman climbs in bed with a man, gets under the sheets and we hear them giggling.
 A woman kisses a man twice. A young man and a young woman kiss a few times. A young man kisses a young woman on the neck. Men and women dance close together, and one couple exchanges a kiss.
 We hear someone on television talking about sexuality. A man tells his infant child that she should sleep in her own bed so that he and her mother can "do something." A man asks a woman to join him at a beach house (presumably for sex). A man and a young man talk about whether or not the young man should have sex with a young woman. A girl tells her father that she wants him to see other women, and a girl asks her father what menstruation is. Two men talk about whether they have had sex with girls.

VIOLENCE/GORE 5 - A man falls off the roof of a building to his death (we see the twisted body and see a man sweeping up the pooled blood from the street the next day).
 Riot police drive through streets where people are walking and hit several with sticks; we see people being beaten, the police are then attacked by several people and one officer is beaten (we hear that he was paralyzed from the attack). A man grabs two men by the collar and punches one in the stomach.
 Police photograph a body at a crime scene in a slaughterhouse (we see carcasses hanging in the background): he is slumped over something and there is blood and matter on the floor.
 There is a trial of a doctor for his barbaric treatment of the patients of an asylum: one man says that he would clench his jaws so tightly that he broke all of his top teeth off. We see scars on the forehead of a woman who has undergone electroshock therapy and we hear of other patients of a mental asylum who have also undergone electroshock. Men inspecting an asylum find patients moaning and covered in filth and bruises, and they are strapped into beds. A woman screams and collapses in grief. A woman cuts her hand on broken glass, and a man sucks on the wound and wraps it in a towel.
 We see a huge flood flowing through streets of a city, we hear about the destruction the water has caused and we see the aftermath, with buildings covered with mud and silt and cars piled up on streets.
 Several men throw a condom filled with water at a man as he comes out of a bathroom, the man becomes very angry, yells at them and twists the arm of one of them and threatens to snap it.
 A woman answers her door holding a loaded gun. A woman is arrested by several men with guns. Two guards take a woman into custody and she appears frightened.
 A woman walks into a busy street a car nearly hits her, the driver honks at her, a man walking with her yells at her, and she kicks and yells at him. Two men shove each other and yell in a few scenes. A commanding officer yells at new recruits and is insulting. Three people yell at each other. A husband and wife argue in a few scenes. A woman screams at a man and calls him a thief (he holds her notebook).
 We see news reports about people committing acts of violence and see several people being arrested. Several people are arrested for protesting.
 At a crime scene police officers talk about a man having been shot in the head. Two police officers talk about shooting someone if they found her. We hear about a judge having been murdered by the Mafia, and a man talks about someone being "snuffed." We hear that a woman died peacefully. We hear that a man attempted suicide in prison. A girl asks her father if her mother is dead, and a man reads the medical records of his father and realizes that he is dying. We hear that an elephant killed its guardian. We hear that a man has died and we see people grieving at the funeral.
 Three men are in a car race on narrow roads, and pass another car. Two men ride on a motorcycle and one briefly puts his hands over the eyes of the driver.
 Two men stumble out of a room after they have been drinking, and we hear a noise and glass breaking (no one is apparently injured). People practice fencing wearing protective gear.

LANGUAGE 5 - 13 F-words, 3 obscene arm gestures, 8 sexual references, 10 scatological terms, 11 anatomical terms, 7 mild obscenities, 1 derogatory term for homosexuals, name-calling (stupid, idiot).

SUBSTANCE USE - A man is arrested for drug possession and for dealing drugs. Two men drink whiskey, three men drink whiskey and one acts particularly drunk, people are shown drinking wine in several scenes, and people are shown drinking beer in several scenes. Several people smoke cigarettes and pipes, a man smokes cigarettes in several scenes, and a woman smokes cigarettes in several scenes.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Friendship, brothers, family, grief, alcoholism, death of a spouse, death of a parent, guilt, menstruation, death of a child, divorce, suicide, mafia, terrorism, shame, organized crime, murder of Italian judges, children out of wedlock, drug dealing, fear of commitment, homosexuality, mental illness, mental asylums, treatments for mental illness, electroshock therapy, marital separation, miracles, Communism, gambling, child abandonment.

MESSAGE - Life is unpredictable.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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