A rich boy and poor boy are born on the same day. The rich boy is the heir to a Padrone dynasty, ruling over a farm and making all the money, but doing none of the work. The poor boy is from a family of laborers on the farm who do all the work, but make no money. There is also a conflict going on between communists, socialists, fascists and Bolsheviks.
5 hours and 15 minutes! The plot included the 2 boys as they became men and grew old, but it also included the political and financial issues of the time. There were oodles of characters, but the 2 main characters were dynamic and developed. Video reminded me of spaghetti westerns and early gangster flicks because that's where and when it was made. Good thing it was not made in the 1960s, I would not be able to take a 5 hour peplum. I found a version with English audio and subtitles and could hear all of the dialogue. There were some sections with annoying music. One scene comes to mind, in which a group of peasants are singing and a different non-diegetic song is playing. Holding my interest for over 5 hours is a difficult task. I watched in smaller chunks, but could follow the story fine. Still, it did not captivate my attention. I would have liked it to be more about the 2 main characters, with less historical context and political material. There was male and female nudity including a scene in which the 2 boys compare penis shapes and an old woman displaying her breasts before being shot by a fascist. I'm glad that someone tried to make such an epic film, but if a film is over 5 hours, it should really be better than this. I rate it o.k. You should probably read more about it somewhere else before deciding whether to watch it.
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