A life on film

Do yourself a favor, and do it soon: set aside six hours, sit back, and marvel at The Best of Youth, which is quite seriously one of the best films that I have ever seen, and may ever hope to see.

The two prominent discussions about this film are helplessly reductive: the discussion of its length, and the discussion of its plot. It is a hearty six hours long, and it is about the lives of two Italian brothers born after World War II. The Best of Youth transcends both of those basic discussions.

Its six hours seem a pittance in that it gets better and better as it goes along, and that it gracefully traverses nearly half a century. When its time has passed, you will wish it would not end.

It is an epic in which not much happens. It is a simple film that reaches beyond the profound. It is wonderful.