dariofabbri

A good movie that reminds everyone of the belief that what we live ( especially when we're adolescents) is new, unreapeatable and too intimate to be divulged, analyzed and explained to or by other human beings.And even if it's not that true, the outcome is that at least it's not phony that it's worth living. This is the translation of the italian title: literally "like you anyone ever", which means that your experiences when lived for the first time seem to be unique, solely faced by yourself and anybody else prior to you. Every adolescent goes thru a row of "Life facts" that will forge his personality and affect his mind in the years to come: that's what the flick is about. The way the director paces around these growing-up issues is delicate and cute, even if not shallow: important the clashes and approaches between the young main character and his parents and other two siblings (one elder and the other younger who looks "dead" but in the end will help him out opening his narrow mind) that remark the generational ditches but in the meantime render clear the identity of the way teenagers deal and have dealt with their "towards maturity" process. The scenario is profoundly italian ( western european but not american at all ): political fight into a high school, bourgeois educated households that have lived the years of politically led protests and now have become at the eyes of their kids too stiff, severe just like their school principals. Silvio lives,during the warped days of the occupation of his school,first make-out sessions, walks the rotting paths of a friendship wrecked by the raging adolescent hormones towards the same girl and at the end learns to recognize his young soulmate (or kinda). Great and hilarious the bonding scenes between Silvio and his more mature brother, between Silvio and his male friends and the girls of the school ( regarding sex, drugs, Politics and so on ). Just one flaw (if we wanna be pernickety and picky): No soundtrack. Same year, same issues but faraway from American Pie.

Surely one of the best Spike Lee's movies (joints) because it grows with the heat of that summer, the seventies music in the air and suspicions towards everyone who's different or at least not "normal". An entire neighborhood in New York felt threatened in its integrity facing a serial killer (son of Sam) that puts everybody in search of a just strange or eccentric suspect. The gang that controls the area is convinced that the killer is one of the neighborhood, so they write a list where every person who doesn't get in line is mentioned: a veteran from Vietnam, the reverend and also an ex-member of the group "charged" with having changed and turning into a punk. On the other side the media built up the case of the serial killer, creating tension and mistrust among neighbors and friends too. The Lee's message is well conveyed, the editing is perfect and his charges against Media and prejudice are clear. Superb is the development and the unfolding of the plot on at least three different levels: Distrust among friends, random people and neighbors; Diversity as division amongst races, people and even baseball fans;increase of tension as increase of material heat, faster film editing and more names on the suspects' list. The result:ignorance as weakness and threat. Special mention for Jennifer Esposito.