As I was about to write my review, I was very positively surprised at seeing the wide, and I would say worldwide success of this awesome Italian "movie": reviewers from all over Europe and across the ocean prove that when a product is intelligently-crafted it is able to cross borders, even though it's deeply rooted in Italian history and could sound a little unfamiliar to a foreign audience. Most comments consist, indeed, of positive words of praise in favour of this movie: emotionally engaging, never boring, despite the long time-run, authentic, genuine, poetic, finely characterised, wonderfully acted, sober, delicate, sensitive, intelligent, never banal, captivating, enjoyable at every age: simply great.
I agree with all the qualities outlined by the users' reviews, and just add a great merit: the total lack of any political line-up, in a movie where great political events and dramas of Italian history are displayed. Faults and merits are just to be seen, everyone may form his/her opinion, but Giordana never falls into the temptation to make any propaganda or engage any political controversy. As an Italian, and living in a country where nowadays every aspect of one's life is object of political assessment, as if politics were the only criterion of one's behaviour, I appreciate this political non-commitment (not in the sense of indifference, of course, but of sterile factiousness) as a comforting and rare quality. Everything, even tragic events with deep social wounds, is displayed with such delicacy, everything gets such an intimate and human dimension, that the movie can really reach a universal impact.
For me, The Best of Youth is one of those movies you can never leave, I bought the DVD, which I keep jealously and lend only to deserving true friends. It's a sort of sweet companion, which never disappoints, it's so loaded with sound feelings and humanity that it is a sort of drug I take when I feel down, and recovering is granted!
11 out of 12 found this helpful