Review: The Way We Laughed

The film is a reductive slice and dice of six years in the life of two Sicilian brothers.

The Way We Laughed
Photo: New Yorker Films

Giani Amelio’s The Way We Laughed is a reductive depiction of six years in the life of two Sicilian brothers, a weepy homage to paisan grins and longing stares. Amelio’s filial saga is elliptical to a fault, skimping on narrative details to confounding effect. Giovanni (Enrico Lo Verso) arrives from southern Italy, hoping to be greeted by his brother Pietro (Francesco Giuffrida). Lo Verso’s illiterate bumpkin sees hope in schoolbooks while Giuffrida’s toothy brat strives for upper-class validation despite his literate laziness. Pietro hopes to score his first shag only to recognize his chosen whore from his youth; two vignettes later, Giovanni is shacking up with the woman. More troubling is Giovanni’s transition from noble man to whip-cracking boss. Between two of the film’s segments, “Money” and “Letters,” Amelio tackles what happens when poor Sicilians stumble onto money and choose to dine high. Pietro inexplicably disappears after one segment, leaving Giovanni to ridiculously freak out at Pietro’s old schoolhouse, longingly caressing a map of Sicily. The Way We Laughed finds its groove once Pietro chooses priesthood, his brown-nosing audition piece effectively played for laughs. This fleeting respite, though, gives way to more slipshod transition work. Luca Bigazzi’s compositions are stunningly symmetrical yet dismal to a fault as “Letters” morphs into “Blood”; Pietro seems to have taken the blame for one of his brother’s crimes, inscrutably turning mute as a result. For added high drama, trains leave tracks right before cold ginger ale bottles can exchange hands. Amelio’s relatively apolitical melodrama rests too much on aggressive brother hugs, incapable of matching the Taviani brothers’ ambition and magical-realist bravery.

Score: 
 Cast: Francesco Giuffrida, Enrico Lo Verso, Rosario Danzé, Fabrizio Gifuni, Claudio Contartese, Domenico Ragusa, Simonetta Benozzo, Pietro Paglietti  Director: Gianni Amelio  Screenwriter: Gianni Amelio, Daniele Gaglianone, Lillo Iacolino, Alberto Taraglio  Distributor: New Yorker Films  Running Time: 128 min  Rating: NR  Year: 1998  Buy: Video

Ed Gonzalez

Ed Gonzalez is the co-founder of Slant Magazine. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle, his writing has appeared in The Village Voice, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications.

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