Anny,
As I was leaving the American Film Institute tonight after viewing a very
strong film ("The Man From London") by the major Hungarian director Bela
Tarr, I noticed the poster for Daniele Luchetti's "My Brother Is An Only
Child" promotes that film by declaring that it's written by the duo who
wrote "The Best Of Youth".
Barry
On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 10:51:35 +0100, Anny Ballardini
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Excellent point Barry, Marco Tullio Giordana is quite a good movie
director.
>He was here in town some years ago, much slimmer than on the pic they
>reproduce on the net. Of the several movies we watched on that occasion I
>can remember *Pasolini, un delitto all'italiana*; quite a good movie, at
>least that is what I thought at the time. I can also remember another movie
>that stuck with me, it was shot in Brazil and talked of kids raised to be
>snipers but I cannot remember the title.
>I didn't watch *Best of Youth* and I might, since you are suggesting people
>should. I also like your poetic composing on it.
>
>On Nov 14, 2007 7:49 AM, Barry Alpert <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Anny,
>>
>> When I learned of the screening at the American Film Institute in Silver
>> Spring, MD of Marco Tullio Giordana's "Best of Youth" and that it had
been
>> made originally for Italian television, I was skeptical enough to skip
it.
>> However, purely by chance a friend rented the dvd and I found Kenneth
>> Turan's rave review. So I decided to watch it, in a manner resembling
the
>> theatrical presentations, for three hours on each of two consecutive
days.
>> It was indeed very impressive. Here's Kenneth Turan's essay:
>>
>>
>> http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/turan/cl-et-
youth18mar18,2,2413402.story
>>
>>
>> Here's what I wrote as a result of the viewing, bearing a distinct
>> relation
>> to my signature snapshots:
>>
>>
>> BEST OF YOUTH
>>
>> [via Marco Tullio Giordana]
>>
>> ["What words fill your head?", Matteo to Giorgia]
>>
>>
>> Book of poems I'd like to read to you,
>> "Everyone's in the garden"
>> struck you.
>> Tell you later. Keep studying.
>>
>> Out of here
>> fits. They give her electroshock.
>>
>> You have to look for it, inside
>> one that's beautiful.
>> Usual big-sister things.
>> Then the thumb in back—
>> how it got under there?
>>
>>
>> Written during my first viewing of this extraordinary 6 hour Italian film
>> centered upon the Carati family as its members live through a 40 year
>> period from the mid-sixties till the present. Not until just now as I
>> read
>> around in the reviews did I realize that the film's title had 14 letters
>> ("The Best of Youth") or 16 letters in Italian ("La Meglio Gioventu");
the
>> video store had shortened the title and though it had an odd resonance, I
>> assumed translatorese. In fact, the fuller title graces a book of poems
>> by
>> the Italian filmmaker Pasolini and an old Italian song. Without advance
>> information about his study of poetry and his enigmatic personality, I
>> somehow decided to limit myself to words exiting the mouth of Matteo
>> Carati, which proved to be a suitable and manageable choice, though his
>> brother, the psychiatrist Nicola Carati, is the central figure of the
>> film. Photos of Matteo become crucial images as the film progresses
>> towards a magical resolution.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Barry Alpert
>>
>========================================================================
