Review of The Way We Laughed

I have two adult sons and understand the fierce love and hate; this story is a muddle. It starts very confusing and keeps the plot obscured until the final Huh? I am a native born Sicilian speaker, therefore, I enjoyed the period language and the contrast with Italian, but for those reading subtitles it must be even more huh? The Italian title is So, they laughed, not we laughed. It doesn't matter, no one laughs, not even once. Character motivation is not supplied through the dialogue. The viewer is tormented with the character but the character knows more than the viewer, maybe. That is a mystery never to be solved. I've read the Italian reviews and comments. Neither language nor culture is the problem here. It's a lack of writing. Good acting and cinematography will take a film only to the screen. To be true storytelling, there has to be a plot, made believable by scenes that jell not flounder as all the scenes do in this movie.