I waste a lot of time reviewing cute but rubbishy science fiction and horror films on this site. I'm a bit out of practice with watching, and critiquing, actual drama! But of course, I still realize that the key to great drama is the characters - and they make this epic Italian miniseries-turned-movie work, and work beautifully at that.

"The Best of Youth" focuses on various members of the Carati family and their friends, advancing from the 1960s to the near-present as it chronicles their lives in the context of social turmoil in Italy as a whole. For the most part, the story never drags, and every single character is compelling and sympathetic.

Many of the character have flaws, but they're not bad people - just complex. Many tragic things happen, but the film never wallows in misery, except on one wholly justified occasion. Moral conflicts are explored not in black-and-white, but in shades of grey. In other words, "The Best of Youth" is rich with the kind of warmth, complexity and subtle nuances that you tend to miss in most American dramas - even the ones that win Oscars.

I won't spoil the plot, really - I'll just say that both of the main characters, brothers Matteo and Nicola Carati, are charismatic and cool and well worth six hours of screen time. They're also very different, which keeps things interesting.

Are there any significant flaws here? Nah, not really. My interest waned a bit during some segments, particularly the historical ones that aren't explained that well. There's also a bit of cheesy makeup and blue screen, but that can be excused because this is really a TV production, as I understand it, not a big movie. Besides, I sort of love production flaws. They're fun, aren't they?

On a totally pointless note, I'd like to mention a strange plus of "The Best of Youth" - much of the cast is totally gorgeous. Guys and gals alike have reason to rejoice here...

One final random thought. While I'm glad that "The Best of Youth" was distributed and well-received in the U.S., I'm annoyed that it was publicized as being "like the Godfather" or "like the works of Scorcese." It's nothing like the Godfather, it's nothing like Scorcese. The marketers seemed to have believed, unfortunately, that U.S. audiences are only interested in Italian criminals, not normal Italian people. This sort of irritates me. (Note my surname and you'll figure out why!) But such concerns have nothing to do with the actual movie, which is pretty much flawless.

"Best of Youth (La Meglio gioventù)" proves that Italians have learned the art of the long-form television mini-series that the British have long mastered.

Covering a somewhat same period of the baby boom generation as "In A Land of Plenty," it has more of the generational feel of individuals caught up in history as we have usually seen in British mini-series about end-of-the-eras or World War I, such as "Brideshead Revisited" and "Jewel in the Crown." U.S. mini-series were more successful as sweeping historical epics, even when they were also family sagas like "Roots" and "Centennial;" when the networks tried to interpret more recent history, as in "The Sixties," the set characters sped through "Zelig" and "Forest Gump"-like in happening to be at the right place at the right time; perhaps the several seasons combined of the NBC series "American Dreams" could be considered comparable in showing how the times that are a-changing affect a family.

"Best of Youth" is being released in the U.S. in movie theaters, though I'm not sure even shown in two parts of three hours each how edited it is from the original format, as other grand European mini-series like "Berlin Alexanderplatz," "Das Boot" and "Fanny and Alexander" were originally only shown in the U.S. in truncated theatrical versions as even PBS seems averse to television with subtitles so we rarely get to see the best of world television. Comparison to the Italian film "The Leopard" is unfair as that was not created in the same format and covers a shorter period of historical time.

"Best of Youth" combines charismatic acting, leisurely directing amidst beautiful scenery in several parts of Italy with writing that takes the trajectories of complex yet consistent characters' lives believably and searingly affected by uniquely Italian experiences of the baby boomers' young adult years through middle age, without the American tendency to reject or regret youthful ambitions, through the lens of local natural disasters, violent political activities, judicial battles against the Cosa Nostra, European economic changes, with regional variations, that Americans rarely see in movies.

The focus is primarily on two brothers from the 1960's almost to the present, played by two actors who must be the equivalent of George Clooney and Richard Chamberlain in Italian television. Alessio Boni in particular as Matteo captures the screen with such tortured macho dynamism that it's no wonder he's gone on to play Heathcliff and Dracula in other mini-series. His Paul Newman-like startling blue eyes become a talking point of the series and a continuing visual leitmotif. Similarly, the physical differences between the two actors help to point up the different paths the brothers take through life, even as the casting of other family members to look like them is eerily effective.

The series is particularly good at capturing the camaraderie amongst old male friends over the years and the intimate interactions of members of a family, particularly with children, with a strong theme of the importance of both as an anchor.

Unlike in American TV where women are adjuncts as the girlfriend/wife/mother, the key women here are crucial fulcrums in the brothers' lives and have separate intellectual, psychological and emotional demands.

The emotions are important here -- grief is shown very movingly, with more pain and tears than American culture usually allows. In one extended scene, we see a grieving mother walk slowly up a long flight of stairs in numbed silence and gradually see her revive as she learns of surprise news about her son.

There are of course some coincidences of family members' and friends' paths crossing at key junctures, but the story overall grips us.

The pop music selections,American, European and Italian, are wonderfully evocative.

This Italian film is one that has previously featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, it is over six hours long, as it was originally a four-part mini-series, I knew I was going to be sat down a long time, but I was prepared to watch it. Basically, it follows the lives of two brothers, Matteo (Alessio Boni) and Nicola (Luigi Lo Cascio),living in parts of Italy between 1966 to 2003. In the summer of 1966, the brothers are living with their parents Angelo (Andrea Tidona) and Adriana (Adriana Asti),their older sister Giovanna (Lidia Vitale),and their younger sister Francesca (Valentina Carnelutti). Nicola qualifies as a doctor and goes on to pursue a career in psychiatry, while Matteo walks out on his first exam, but continues to work in a medical institution. The brothers attempt to rescue a young woman named Giorgia (Jasmine Trinca) from the abusive sanitarium after noticing her wounds from electroshock therapy. They try to take her on their trip to Norway, but the police catch up to them and take Giorgia back to the asylum. Matteo becomes sad and depressed, he returns to Rome, and joins the army. Nicola continues to Norway and gets a job as a lumberjack. The brothers meet again in Florence following the 1966 Arno River flood. Whilst there, Nicola meets university student Giulia (Sonia Bergamasco). In February 1968, Nicola and Giulia, a talented piano player, have not married, but are living together in Turin. In 1974, Matteo leaves the army and joins the police force. During this time, Matteo is showing signs of continued depression and anger. He accepts an assignment in Sicily, a place corrupted by the Mafia. Meanwhile, Nicola and Giulia have a daughter named Sara. In Sicily, Matteo meets a photographer named Mirella (Maya Sansa) who wants to be a librarian, and he advises her to work at a beautiful library in Rome. Matteo's temper forces him to leave Sicily. He decides to live in Rome but refuses to visit his mother. Meanwhile, Nicola has become a psychiatrist, and works to eliminate the abuse of patients in mental hospitals. He finds Giorgia in one of the hospitals, tied to a bed, she does not talk, and shows fear of being touched. After some time, Giulia, who has leftist ties with the Red Brigades, leaves Nicola and five-year-old Sara (Sara Pavoncello) one night and disappears into the terrorist underground. Years later, in 1983, Matteo walks into that same library and sees Mirella for the second time. They fall in love, and one evening, make love in a car. Eventually he pushes her away. In December 1983, Mirella meets with Matteo with news for him, but his harsh behaviour forces her to leave. On New Year's Eve, Matteo decides to finally visit his mother, and everyone is there to celebrate. Matteo decides to leave early before the traditional toasts. Back at his apartment, after the stroke of midnight and with fireworks going off, Matteo throws himself off the balcony to his death. The family is devastated by the tragedy of Matteo's suicide. Nicola's mother having lost her motivation quits her teaching job and lives a life in solitude in Rome. Nicola feels that he could have done something to save Matteo, not wanting to make the same mistake again he arranges for the capture of Giulia to stop her from killing anybody or from getting killed. She is sentenced to 17 years in prison, during which Nicola visits her and proposes to her but Giulia rejects him. In the spring of 1992, Nicola finds a photograph of Matteo taken by Mirella. Giorgia encourages Mattero to meet with Mirella, after some hesitation he eventually agrees to do. During their meeting, Nicola learns about her son Andrea (Riccardo Scamarcio) and that Matteo is his father. Nicola breaks this exciting news to his mother, and they visit Mirella and her son on the small island of Stromboli. Nicola's mother finds new meaning in her life and decides to stay with Mirella and her grandson. Meanwhile, twenty-something Sara (Camilla Filippi) still struggles with the poor choices her mother has made. She decides to move to Rome to study art conservation and becomes engaged. During this time, Nicola is saddened to find out his mother has died, he travels to Stromboli to visit Mirella and pay his respects. In the spring of 2000, having finally accepted the death of Matteo, Nicola and Mirella fall in love. Sara, feeling happier and stronger, is encouraged by Nicola to confront her mother and try to patch things up. Giulia is released from jail and is in desperate need of love, she embraces Sara, but is not ready to completely open up. Finally, in 2003, Matteo's son, Andrea (Riccardo Scamarcio),visits Norway, specifically North Cape, to complete a journey that his father and Nicola planned to do, but never finished. Also starring Fabrizio Gifuni as Carlo Tommasi, Nila Carnelutti as Francesca Carati aged 8, Greta Cavuoti as Sara Carati aged 8, Giovanni Scifoni as Berto, Paolo Bonanni as Luigino and Domenico Centamore as Enzo. Boni as the duty-driven cop and Lo Cascio as the politically active psychiatrist are both individually terrific as the brothers who go in separate directions, the small scenes they share together are good also, it is a very simple but affective story of family, going through various domestic feuds, turbulent romances and personal tragedies, during a vibrant but conflicted and corrupted society, obviously the Italian sights are nice to look at, it is long and probably not one I'll be watching again soon (time wise),but it is a most interesting drama. Very good!