My Brother Is an Only Child

Two brothers grow up in Latina, a town built under fascism. The younger, Accio, is sent to seminary, comes back and joins the local fascist group. The older, Manrico, is a communist fighting for workers' rights at the factory and the good-looking one of the neighbourhood. Through the sixties and seventies they live in the same house, at the same table, shouting at each other. The film is less interested in politics than in how politics works through brotherhood. Accio's fascism is less conviction than an attempt to get out of his brother's shadow; the story never says so but shows it in every scene. That they love the same girl is not a coincidence either. Daniele Luchetti directed. Elio Germano plays Accio and Riccardo Scamarcio plays Manrico, with Angela Finocchiaro, Massimo Popolizio and Luca Zingaretti in the cast. The source is Antonio Pennacchi's book Il fasciocomunista. Pennacchi kept his distance from the film and said his intentions were betrayed, especially in the second half. It was shot in Latina, at Borgo Segezia and Borgo Cervaro near Foggia, and in Turin. It opened in Italy on 20 April 2007 and screened in Un Certain Regard at Cannes that year. Who it is for: anyone who likes Italian political cinema and stories about brothers. Who it is not for: anyone unfamiliar with the period. The film leans on the details of Italian politics, the tone turns suddenly heavy in the last half hour, and the woman remains an instrument between the two brothers.