A friend of mine, who also is avid movie fan, recommended me this movie. I was initially apprehensive looking at the length of the movie, but then decided to give it go. I did not want to the movie to end, it is the most poetic and graceful movie i have seen in sometime now. Matteo and Nicola, both played to perfection by the actors...the anger felt by Matteo, the loneliness was essayed flawlessly by Alessio....i could see glimpses of 'Che' in him, so did i see it in Nicola as well. There are no cinematic liberties taken in the movie...the twist and turn as beautiful as the women in the movie. I watched this movie spread over 3 days and those 3 days i lived the lives of Matteo, Nicola, Giorgia and Giulia. I highly recommend this movie for people who appreciate cinema.

Yes, wonderful story of modern Italian history told through the experiences of 2 brothers and their extended family from 66 until 2003. So, here are the questions. Why did Matteo (spoiler alert) roll himself over the balcony as casually as you would roll out of bed? What happened when they let the police take away the beautiful mental patient that they had liberated from the electroshocks of the asylum? Why did the Red brigade woman left her daughter and lover for the horrible life of an assassin? What unresolved hatreds did she harbor? Like the Gerhard documentary about the German Red Brigade woman who fled her own family, taking her daughters on the road and committing suicide in jail, this action by this Italian woman was equally hard to fathom. What happened in Matteo's childhood that caused an occasion such as the botched delivery of the mental patient into the hands of the police (and back to the abuse of the asylum) to divert him from a career as a writer/poet, whatever to the politzi. First, the Army and then the police. His photography hobby becomes part of his job as he takes shots of corpses, murder victims. His temper is ungovernable. Something had to happen to turn him this way, not just one incident when he's 21!!!!So we go from Turin to Palermo, to Capri to Sicily to Rome and it's all beautiful. With the taxes to pay that I have, I 'll have to use this for my trip to Italy this year. The cinematography is outstanding. It is said that if you want to hold the audience past their leaving the theater, you want to embed certain thoughts in their mind, certain issues that the movie didn't resolve. This one certainly does that, as you want to find out how that mental patient did AFTER she left the asylum, what actually cause the mother to leave her family and join the Red Brigade. And the wonderful 'trick' of saving the mother by having her arrested!!! Reminded me of the psychiatrist who says, "Hospitalize anyone you love who is having a suicidal episode. By that you save their lives." Unfortunately me, a friend of mine was allowed to check herself out of the hospital. She returns home and turns on the car and funnels CO back into it, killing herself. So, I really appreciated the action of this psychiatrist, Matteo's brother.The most affecting lines: "I had the opportunity to stop both my brother and my lover at this door from killing himself, and ruining her life. I allowed them the freedom to do that, which I shouldn't have." (That's when he sets up a meeting at which she's arrested, and goes to jail.)Great movie. have to see it again.

The best movie of the past decade and one of the best I have ever seen. I watched this movie for the second time and was as touched as I was the first time. Too bad this movie has not made it into the top 250. Even though this is a six hour movie time flew by as I grew sympathy for all the different characters in this movie. It is a roller-coaster of emotions, I loved the cinematography, the shots of Rome and Florence are simply beautiful, the acting is superb. Even after I saw this movie twice I was left with questions, the movie does not give all the answers which is one of the reasons I love it.The music is great. And it is true, life is beautiful, especially if you get to watch movies like this one.

Our Italian teacher made us watch this movie and at the time i was rather apprehensive about it. I soon found however, that this long saga was one of the greatest works of art ever made. The acting talent was incredible. Marco Tulio Giordana is perhaps one of the greatest geniuses of cinema the world has seen. Every single scene made was so pure, so real, that every single time something would happen to a character you'd feel like it was happening to you. This movie has inspired me like no other before. With incredible photography of sites from all over the world, this movie makes me just want to walk out the door and fly away. This movie captures the soul, and i will never forget for as long as i live. 10/10