My Brother is an Only Child (DVD)

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As most stories go, a girl enters the equation. Diane Fleri plays Francesca, the obligatory female presence who becomes the catalyst for a heartbreaking finale. There isn´t any real meat to the character (or that of the other females); Francesca is merely a plot device used to keep the plot moving. Underneath it all, this is the story of the two brothers; Francesca has little to do with it.

Directed by Daniele Luchetti, "My Brother is an Only Child" has a weathered, creaky feeling to it, as if the people and places on screen can fall apart at any time. And indeed, they do in the end. Luchetti doesn´t show off, for lack of a better term. Just as the story is largely economical, so is the directing.

Now, about that title: it would seem to imply Manrico and Accio are at each other´s throats for the entire running time of the film. Without spoiling too much of the story, they aren´t. It´s a provocative name for a film, but does it honestly describe what happens? No. The name of the novel is "Il Fasciocomunista." I´m guessing you can pick out the Fascist and Communist parts. It´s a tougher title to market, but a much better descriptor of the finished product, especially in movie form.

VIDEO:
Presented in its original 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio, "My Brother is an Only Child" looks okay for half its scenes. Any sequence taking place in broad daylight or in some semblance of light sports a layer of obvious, though not annoying, grain. When the setting changes to dark locales or night-as it does for most of the last twenty minutes-it is next to impossible to figure out what is going on. Blacks are muddy and a medium gray in color. Other colors appear a bit washed out while the contrast appears to have been turned up a notch or two, perhaps in a deliberate attempt to create a stylized film.

AUDIO:
Image Entertainment provides the original Italian soundtrack in two flavors, 5.1 and 2.0. There´s not a lot of difference between the two. Certain sound effects are rendered better with the additional speakers; this mix does tend to spread the audio out a bit too much, creating an almost expansive feeling to an intimate story. The 2.0 is lower in volume than its counterpart. No discernable glitches or problems crop up. English subtitles are included.

EXTRAS:
A series of trailers to start off the disc include "The Secret," "The Riddle" and "Walker Payne" while this film´s trailer is available through the main menu. "My Brother is an Only Child" is broken down into 14 chapters.

PARTING THOUGHTS:
One minor story telling issue shouldn´t stand in the way of enjoying "My Brother is an Only Child." However, in conjunction with historical questions never fully answered by the script, I can´t fully recommend the film. Is there enough for an audience to latch onto for 104 minutes? Yes, as long as we´re willing to connect the dots with little help from the production. The structure may have worked better as a novel; it simply doesn´t make the jump to the screen as effectively as it should.

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