The Best of Youth (Part 2)

A historical saga set in Italy spanning from 1966 to 2003. “The Best of Youth” chronicles the life of an Italian family, the Caratis, but focuses primarily on two brothers, Matteo and Nicola, documenting their journey from the prime of their wild youth in the mid-1960s counter-culture, to parenthood and retirement in the early 2000s. The film aims to show the interaction of the personal and the political, the ways in which small events may become turning points in the important choices made by individuals.

The first part is set during the summer of 1966. Two brothers go their separate ways after attempting to rescue a young girl, Giorgia, from an abusive mental sanitarium. Nicola qualifies as a doctor and will pursue a career in psychiatry. Matteo, on the other hand, walks out of his final exam. He goes to Rome and joins the army. The brothers meet again in Florence just after the 1966 Arno River flood. Here, Nicola meets a university student, Giulia. From 1968 to 1974, Nicola and Giulia live together and have a daughter, Sara. Giulia gets drawn into a secret Red Brigade cell. One night, she leaves Nicola and Sara and disappears into the terrorist underground.

Meanwhile, Matteo leaves the army to join the police force. He accepts an assignment in Sicily, a place corrupted by the Mafia. There, he meets a photographer in a caffè named Mirella. Years later, in 1983, Matteo meets again Mirella. They fall in love, Matteo is forced to leave Sicily. He decides to settle in Rome. When he meets Mirella again, she does not tell him that she is pregnant with his child. On New Year’s Eve, Matteo decides to finally visit his mother. Everyone is there to celebrate. Instead of waiting for the traditional toasts, however, Matteo decides to leave early and, at midnight, jumps off the balcony of his apartment and kills himself.

In despair, Nicola’s mother quits her teaching job and lives a life in solitude in Rome. Nicola, feeling that he could have saved Matteo and not wanting to make the same mistake again, arranges for the capture of Giulia to prevent her from killing someone else or from getting killed. She is sentenced to two years in jail. During her jail term, Nicola visits Giulia and proposes to her but is rejected. In 1992, Nicola finds a photograph of Matteo taken by Mirella. After some hesitation, he agrees to meet her. He learns about Matteo’s son. Nicola breaks and his mother visit the boy in Sicily. Inspired by new meaning in her life, Nicola’s mother decides to stay with Mirella and her grandson. She will die there, some years later. Meanwhile, Sara, now in her early twenties, is still struggling with the poor choices her mother has made. She decides to move to Rome to study restoration and becomes engaged to Mimmo. During this time, Nicola finds out his mother has passed away and, as a result, travels to Sicily to visit Mirella and pay his respects. In 2000, Nicola and Mirella fall in love. Sara, now happy and strong, is encouraged by Nicola to confront her mother and try to patch things up. Giulia, now out of jail and in desperate need of love, embraces Sara, but is not ready to open up completely.

La meglio gioventù (Part 1) can be found here.