Dipped back in to La meglio gioventu' this weekend. This 6-hour long visual masterpiece, originally aired on state television and later released in cinemas, going on to win the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes in 2003, follows the lives of brothers Nicola and Matteo from the mid 60s to 2003. It gives the most beautiful overview of forty years of Italian history, authentic enough to make even those of us born long after the period in question nostalgic. Faultless visual references to times gone by are underpinned by a delicate soundtrack that enhances but never intrudes.
The brothers are university students of the ’68 generation and have had the same institutional and familial education but as they age, their lifestyles and morals diverge. While Nicola embraces the archetypal ’68 experience – protesting and travelling – Matteo enters the army and later the polizia, embracing institutional rules and regulations (his violent treatment of suspects under questioning is reminiscent of the events leading to the death of Pinelli, which inspired Fo’s morte accidentale). Interestingly, cultural heritage and the arts are what seems to bring characters together. Nicola and Matteo are reunited in Florence at the time of the floods in ’66, Nicola is first drawn to his wife as she plays the piano and while she is in prison sends her music scores, Mirella takes photographs of Matteo which are presented in an exhibition, viewed by Nicola after Matteo’s suicide, which ignites their relationship . The most stark distinction though lies between Matteo and Nicola’s wife Giulia, who enters into the Brigate Rosse (the Italian terrorist brigade), later leaving her family and becoming an assassin. The divide in the ’68 generation between those distrustful of institutional power or authority of any sort, and those searching for rules and regulations – a division that, arguably, led to the anni di piombo in Italy – is represented in these two diametrically opposed characters. Interestingly, the event that marked the culmination of this tumultuous period, the Moro Affair, is absent from the film that was released on the thirtieth anniversary of the tragedy. Is this symptomatic of desired national amensia? Who knows. But learn Italian and watch this stunning overview of national memory, please.
The brothers are university students of the ’68 generation and have had the same institutional and familial education but as they age, their lifestyles and morals diverge. While Nicola embraces the archetypal ’68 experience – protesting and travelling – Matteo enters the army and later the polizia, embracing institutional rules and regulations (his violent treatment of suspects under questioning is reminiscent of the events leading to the death of Pinelli, which inspired Fo’s morte accidentale). Interestingly, cultural heritage and the arts are what seems to bring characters together. Nicola and Matteo are reunited in Florence at the time of the floods in ’66, Nicola is first drawn to his wife as she plays the piano and while she is in prison sends her music scores, Mirella takes photographs of Matteo which are presented in an exhibition, viewed by Nicola after Matteo’s suicide, which ignites their relationship . The most stark distinction though lies between Matteo and Nicola’s wife Giulia, who enters into the Brigate Rosse (the Italian terrorist brigade), later leaving her family and becoming an assassin. The divide in the ’68 generation between those distrustful of institutional power or authority of any sort, and those searching for rules and regulations – a division that, arguably, led to the anni di piombo in Italy – is represented in these two diametrically opposed characters. Interestingly, the event that marked the culmination of this tumultuous period, the Moro Affair, is absent from the film that was released on the thirtieth anniversary of the tragedy. Is this symptomatic of desired national amensia? Who knows. But learn Italian and watch this stunning overview of national memory, please.
