I do not mind the unclear motivations of some of the main characters or the questionable choices they made. This is a movie, and movie makers have the freedom NOT to satisfy all my expectations, which I like. Although some of what happened was hard to take, the best parts of this movie far outweigh the darkness.
Several months ago I read how hard it is to get straight Italian actors to play gay roles, but whoever wrote that must not have seen this movie. All the main actors, most of whom I assume are straight in real life, played these gay roles with such dedication and fire that it puts American gay movies and American actors (gay and straight) to shame.
I have hardly ever seen on screen such intense and wholly believable passion as explodes between Caudio and Andrea in this movie. That passion alone explains to my satisfaction everything they did later, and I will rush to defend and recommend ANY movie that puts such passion between two men on film. I drank it in like water in a desert.