Film - The Best of Youth 燦爛人生

[skylee]

Has anyone seen it?

I am thinking about seeing it this weekend (it is shown in two parts, about 3 hours each, in a HK cinema). But I kind of lack the courage because it is so long. I watched the video of Bertolucci's 1900 years ago and I absolutely loved it. But I wonder if I would find it enjoyable if I watched the 5+ hours of it in one go ...

Perhaps I should buy the DVD and watch it at home?

http://www.cityline.com.hk/chi/movie/byMovieStep2.jsp?eventKey=27315

[gato]

I saw it a little while ago and loved it. It's one of the best films I've ever seen. I went with several friends, including a couple who don't usually go for art films, and they all loved it. This isn't really an "art film," either, as it was made for an Italian television network. It's just an old-fasioned movie with a good story and characters you can identify with. Once you get into the story, you won't even notice the time pass. It has a rating of 8.7/10 on IMDB: http://imdb.com/title/tt0346336/

[skylee]

I have finished watching this film on DVDs (actually I have seen it several times on long-haul flights).

It is a very good film and I like it a lot. But what happens to Matteo troubles me. I don´t understand why he is angry/sad, why he drops out of university despite his apparent good grades, why he becomes a policeman, why he rejects the women he likes, what happens between Giorgia and him, and why he jumps. It is so sad that every time I had to stop there for a while before going on.

Anyone (gato?) cares to enlighten me?

[gato]

One thing I loved about the movie is how real the characters feel. The question of Matteo also reflects real life. It's often impossible to fully explain why people are the way they are. Matteo was my favorite character from the movie because he most fully represented the mystery of life to me, its beauty as well as its heartaches. The mystery of Iris Chang, the author, comes to mind.

There are a couple of possibilities I thought of: (1) He's a manic depressive; his peaks might be his moments of uncontrollable anger. Even in the opening scene, we see him being very withdrawn from his father; (2) He is conflicted about his sexuality; he might be bi or gay. I think he joined the policeman for the reason that many poeple often join the military: to impose discipline on himself. Notice that he went from a longhaired hippie to a crew-cut quasi-fascist, while his brother went through an opposite transformation. He probably knew about his emotional and thought the police force would his life some semblance of order. He seems to have to wanted to get outside of himself. It might be a reason why he worked as a volunteer -- at a mental hospital, of all places.

[skylee]

The question of Matteo also reflects real life. It's often impossible to fully explain why people are the way they are. Matteo was my favorite character from the movie because he most fully represented the mystery of life to me, its beauty as well as its heartaches.

I agree. And thanks for replying.

Trailer

[skylee]

Reviews in Chinese -> 每个人的灿烂人生

[skylee]

Sorry for reviving a 2005 thread.

My film-freak friend has just sent to me some info on another six-hour italian film called Longlasting Youth (歡聚時光) written by the same scriptwriters ->

http://www.movie.com...=869&Itemid=324

《欢聚时光》一生中必须掌握的6小时

Has anyone seen this newer film? Or is anyone interested? Any comments / views?

It is kind of strange that Italians seem to like to package mini series as two-part films. Besides these two I have also seen Bertolucci's Novecento (also 6 5+ hours long). I saw both Novecento and The Best of Youth on tapes/DVDs and I liked them. But I am not sure if I would like to watch such a long film in a cinema in one go.