This work is epic, but I wouldn't call it sweeping. It's very ethnocentric to Italy, and it's a tragically presented and works very much as a type of document of life. It follows two brothers, who both take different paths, following the progression of Italy through the later half of the 20th centuary. You feel the passage of time as well as a type of detached character development, but I wouldn't say that we really get inside the character's heads. We meet a lot of great supporting characters, but the film is mainly jumping around from key points in people's lives. It's all very good stuff.<br /><br />But the biggest complaints to voice would be the lack of general thematic focus, and the fact that the majority of the better material in the story is told in the first half and the second, while still good, really doesn't work as compelling stuff. It's still good, but you feel like the better years have passed.<br /><br />This isn't the grand story of life, but it is the story of some people in Italy, and it's not the definitive story but it's definitely worth your time, if you be interested in the subject matter.