Marco Tullio Giordana deserves praise for bringing this saga about two brothers in Italy that spans a few decades and paints a picture about the country. Mr. Giordana and the writers of this series made for television, Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli, painted a rich canvas of modern Italy as events of the last forty years surface in this gripping tale of two brothers and the people whose lives they touched.<br /><br />It's impossible to summarize the events we see in the film. After all, it's running time and all the things that happen are too numerous to mention. Suffice it to say, the story never loses the viewer's interest as proved when we recently watched the two part DVD. We had no idea what we were getting into, but almost by magic, Mr. Giordana and his collaborators took us to a wonderful trip.<br /><br />Best of all are the great characterizations Mr. Giordana was able to get from the two leads: Luigi LoCoscio and Alessi Boni, who play Nicola and Matteo Carali. Some excellent ensemble playing was also achieved by the large cast in this series.<br /><br />The inspired cinematography by Foberto Forza does wonders to enhance all we see. The score include music by Bach, Mozart and even Piazzolla. This is a triumph indeed for the director Mr. Giordana and all the people who contributed to make this a most unusual and poignant portrait of a people and a culture.