The Italian Un certain regard title and local boxoffice hit Mio fratello è figlio unico (My Brother is An Only Child) is a fun panoramic snapshot of politically engaged Italian youngsters in the 1960s and 70s that is not only a portrait of its time but also, be it in diluted form, of the Italian youth of today. The fact that the film is also surprisingly funny, good-looking and showcases the talents of rising star Elio Germano (N - Io e Napoleone) should help it outside of Italy as well, though it is not as all-encompassing and engrossing as local recent-history melodramas La meglio gioventù (The Best of Youth) and Romanzo Criminale (Crime Novel), which were also written by the tandem Sandro Petraglia-Stefano Rulli.

Set in 1960s Latina -- a city not far from Rome created by the Fascist government of Mussolini -- and based on the bestselling Antonio Pennacchi novel Il fasciocomunista, Mio fratello è figlio unico is the story of Accio (Germano), who enters the novitiate at an early age to make space in the cramped quarters of the family, though his older brother Manrico (Italian dreamboat du jour Riccardo Scamarcio) tries to convince him to quit and he eventually does.

The relationship with his parents might be difficult and his older sister might sometimes hassle him, but it is the bond with his older brother Manrico, a communist, that is the focus of the film, though Manrico lacks the complexity of Accio and is essentially presented as an inverted mirror-image of his brother rather than a character by himself. Accio, influenced by a the local seller of sheets and table covers (Luca Zingaretti, the priest from Alla luce del sole / Into the Light), defines himself a fascist, leading to the first of many comical scenes in which he wants to register with the fascist party almost straight out of the novitiate.

 

Being a coming-of-age tale (and age in this case includes a maturing political conscience as much as a maturing body, mind and an awakening of sexual desire), the tone is lighter than most of Petraglia and Rulli’s previous screenplays -- and also a lot more humorous. Instead of interweaving historical national events into the fabric of the story, as they did in Gioventù and Romanzo Criminale, here small personal scuffles are used for a fictional tale of personal growth that is essentially a character study of Accio as refracted through the prism of his surroundings. As such it is a much more intimate and lighter affair that is a pleasant change of gears for the duo but also robs it of the solid weight of history that made their other sagas so compelling. In this light, their decision to use an occasional voice-over seems unnecessary. All other technical credits are first rate, and Mio fratello è figlio unico is a lust for the eyes and ears.

 

The film’s greatest delight comes from the utterly compelling inside-out performance of Elio Germano, who was the best thing about N – Io e Napoleone (N – Napoleon and Me) and proves here he is not only an actor with an affable demeanour but also a range and presence that Italian and international filmmakers should kindle and treasure. He is supported by an able cast led by Angela Finocchiaro (La bestia nel cuore / Don’t Tell) as his mother and the two pretty faces that fall in love with each other: Riccardo Scamarcio as his brother and newcomer Diane Fleri as his girlfriend Francesca, who has also got communist leanings and who has a special place in Accio’s fascist heart.  

For all its political contents, however, Mio fratello è figlio unico is not nearly as sharp a portrait of the politically engaged Italian youngsters as Paolo Virzì’s contemporary Caterina va in città (Caterina in the Big City). Like that film, audiences unfamiliar with the Italian political landscape of should be able to enjoy this story nevertheless; all that is required is a vague idea about the difference between fascists and communists.