My Brother Is An Only Child

Aroview: The struggle between popular Communist and Fascist groups in 60's Italy is the stage for this tale of hot-headed sibling and filial conflict.

The spirited youngest of a working class family runs afoul of every group he finds himself a part of. Once expelled from the seminary, he aligns himself with the Fascists, bringing him into conflict with his family and his brother, a nascent Communist leader. Fascism is an uncomfortable fit for this sensitive kid, and it is Elio Germano's faintly comic performance which cements this adaptation of Antonio Pennacchi's novel. The family's squabbles counterpoint ideological conflict in a film that flirts with Bertolucci and examines love, betrayal, good old coming-of-age, though with the politics somewhat eclipsed.

Sonic highlights are the use of the Italian predecessor to the 60's hit 'I Will Follow Him', and a scene built around a counter-Fascist rendering of Beethoven's Ode To Joy.