(originally posted 2-3 years ago, 04-21-2005 09:32 AM)

(1) Regarding the opening sequences, I think several scenes have been edited out (from the 400 min) such that the contrast of their youth with their latter life is less apparent, and hence it may feel less compelling ... 

In fact, after the first 20 min, I was still wondering should I have driven 1 hour (and returned another 1 hour) just to catch the movie ... and have I made a grave mistake by purchasing Part 2 tickets in advance (even before watching Part 1) ... 

Fortunately, I stayed till the end of Part 1 and I really like Part 2 ... ha ha ha ... maybe Asians and Latinos prefer melodrama ... hee hee ... just take a look at our daily night TV drama and you will understand ... ha ha ha ...

But what really caught me was: 

THERE IS SO MUCH SUBTLETY in the way they depict characters! 

-- I actually like it and prefer it over explaining everything to the audience ...

-- In a way, the movie has hinted at why they behave as such ... I do not think it is necessary to explicitly state a lot of things ... 

-- In other words, I may be able to try offer some plausible explanations to your qualms about the movie ... but there will be tons of spoilers in order to corroborate the discussion ...
e.g., your 1st critic on Matteo
e.g., your 2nd critic on Guilia ... 

However, I would like to believe that:

-- Given a 400 min movie (and filmed in about 24 weeks), it is nearly impossible to be flawless and totally high key throughout ... different audience are bound to be unhappy about certain aspects of the movie ... be it plot, characterization, technical, or other aspects ...