The Best of Youth - Characters & Cast

Driven by a deep-seated empathy and a desire to heal others and correct injustice. His motivations are rooted in a belief in human connection, progress, and the power of understanding. He is always ready to engage with the world and the people in it.

Nicola begins as a sensitive and open-minded young man who, after the traumatic event with Giorgia, channels his idealism into a constructive path. He becomes a psychiatrist dedicated to humane reform, a loving father, and the stable center of the family. His journey is one of endurance and adaptation; he faces profound personal loss—the estrangement of his wife Giulia and the suicide of his brother—but emerges not broken, but with a deeper, more mature understanding of life. He learns the limits of his ability to 'save' others but never loses his fundamental compassion, ultimately finding a new form of happiness and family with Mirella.

Matteo is motivated by a fierce, almost punishing sense of justice and a yearning for an unattainable purity in a flawed world. He seeks order and rules to contain the chaos he feels internally, but this ultimately suffocates him.

Matteo starts as a brilliant, passionate, but deeply troubled and volatile young man. His idealism is rigid and absolute. The failure to rescue Giorgia shatters him, leading him to abandon his studies and seek refuge in the rigid structures of the army and police force. His arc is a tragic descent into emotional isolation and self-destruction. He consistently pushes away those who love him, like Mirella, unable to reconcile his inner turmoil with the world around him. His journey culminates in his suicide, a final act of despair from a man who could not find a way to live with his own perceived failures and internal demons.

Motivated by a profound indignation at social and economic injustice, she seeks to fundamentally change the world. Her initial desire for a better society evolves into a conviction that violent action is the only way to achieve it.

Giulia is introduced as a passionate, intelligent university student who falls in love with Nicola. Initially, her political convictions align with the hopeful activism of the era. However, her frustration with the slow pace of change and the injustices she perceives leads her down a path of increasing radicalization. Her arc shows her transformation from an idealist into a hardened member of the Red Brigades, a choice that forces her to abandon her family, including her daughter, Sara. She becomes a tragic figure, sacrificing her personal life for a violent ideology, representing the destructive potential of extremism.

Her primary motivation is survival. Initially trapped in a state of fear and withdrawal, her journey is about reclaiming her voice and her ability to connect with the world, a process facilitated by Nicola's patient kindness.

Giorgia's arc is one of survival and slow, difficult healing. She begins as a victim of an abusive psychiatric system, rendered almost mute and catatonic by electroshock therapy. Her initial 'rescue' by the brothers fails, but she re-emerges years later when Nicola discovers her in another institution. Under Nicola's care, she gradually regains a semblance of life and autonomy. Though she remains scarred by her past, her journey is a testament to resilience. She acts as a catalyst for the brothers' diverging paths and remains a powerful moral touchstone throughout the film.