Part 1:
One aspect of the movie that I found myself thinking about the most through the film is Mateo's and Nicola's relationship. While their relationship is the central story of the film it is also representative of the political, cultural, and sociological state of Italy throughthe lives of Nicola and Matteo. Throughout the first part of the film, it moves through their educational and professional lives which shows the impactful historical events that not only change the landscape of political and social culture but also cause Matteo and Nicola to make decisions that alter the course of their life. The movie offers the possibility to look at Italian events from individual perspectives and third-person perspectives with the inclusion of the major historical events that shaped Italy and its citizens a part of it. The differing scopes allow for further explanation and context to the experiences that many Italians had faced during the events of the movie.
Another aspect of the brothers' relationship that we’ve seen throughout the film is that they always manage to come together even though they are opposites politically and personality-wise. Even though their differences have led them to be on opposing sides they still take the time to converse and try and share their lives when they get the chance to. Their relationship directly relates to the polarization happening in Italy. So far throughout the film, we have seen the brothers come back together twice, the second time was left more tense due to Nicola’s girlfriend arguing about politics. But Nicola did not make such comments to Mateo, which shows the important bond of brotherhood they have, which withstands the political climate of Italy.
Part 2:
In part two of the movie I enjoyed seeing further context behind Mateo and Nicola’s childhood, specifically their relationship with their parents and two other siblings. We see the positivity behind these relationships play out in the final scene of disc 1 of Francesca’s wedding with everyone celebrating and happy. This scene seems to be a dichotomy to the current state some of the family members are living in. With Giula leaving Nicola and Sara to work with the Red Brigade. Lastly, Mateo is temporarily discharged from the Sicilian police due to his temperament and both boys still mourning the loss of their father. In class discussion, the question was brought up of what symbols are used in the film to represent the brothers’ journey and themes of Italian culture. One symbol that we discussed that I personally noticed throughout the film is the use of hair and facial hairstyles to express a character's emotion and state of life at that time. Both brothers begin the film with grown-out hair and no facial hair, which I took as a sign of youth and lack of adult responsibilities, a sense of carelessness. Their hairstyle changed with Nicoli growing it out with a beard and long hair while he is traveling in Norway which shows his free and worryless life traveling with no responsibilities. But this changes for Nicoli as he becomes a father and doctor, he is clean-shaven and has short hair which shows his stability and comfort and having responsibilities as a parent. I feel it is important to say parallel to real life and in the movie hair is used as an expression of yourself and how you want to be presented at that time. This aspect provides a relatability to the characters as their small detail of what hairstyle they have speaks to the state of their lives at that moment and allows us to infer about the people around us and characters in the film.
Part 3:
An instance throughout the film that was culturally unique to Italy that I was unaware of was the blood bond that family has. I related this value to when Andriana was invited to stay with Andrea and Mirella in Palermo. It was completely unplanned that she would stay, but she ended up staying until she passed away. I wondered if Matteo hadn’t taken his own life would his mother be invited to stay at all? But I believe she would’ve because of the important bond and relationship of having a grandmother present in your life. Andrea benefited from so much because he didn’t have an extended family as tight as the Carati’s. This led me to think about the customs of multi-generational households in certain cultures. American culture tends to be against this value. I believe that having a multi-generational household is beneficial in building deeper relationships with family alongside respecting your elders. We see throughout the movie after Adrianna’s husband Angelo passes she moves between staying with Francesca and Carlo’s family to Mirella and Andrea’s which in turn enriches the next generation while also building the relationship between Andrianna and her own children.
Another theme the movie had was love and the importance of that in life. After I watched a film I thought more about Adrianna’s role as the oldest generation, and she holds the context for how each child turned out in life. In the film, she expressed how she should’ve been more present in the children’s lives rather than paying more attention to her students. Her children still take her in when she needs it and the siblings never express this as a responsibility but a gift that signifies the deep love and connection that the Carati’s and Mirella’s family has.
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