89 of 1001 Movies: The Best of Youth (2003)

The Best of Youth is one of the most powerful, and beautiful movies there is. After watching it I instantly wanted to replay the movie again, and that has never happened before. What makes it so amazing is that the characters are so real and complex. While it has it's share of sorrow and happiness it just feels alive. Marco Tullio Giordana brings together a movie that is worth amount of time you'll spend watching it. The plot evolves with time, and ultimately feels a lot like life.

Matteo and Nicola are two brothers who are leaving school, and have plans to set out on a journey together. Matteo has been meeting with a woman in an asylum, Giorgia, and also decides to help her try to live a life outside of it's wall. When this journey falls apart it drastically changes the course of their lives. Matteo joins the army, and Nicola ends up going into psychiatry to correct the abuse happening against the mentally ill. This puts them on different sides of the spectrum in their approach to life, but both still feel passionate about their cause. By the end you've traveled from Italy 1960 to the 2000s, and watched the journey of both make a circle showing their fate.