Francesco Sossai's new film, The Last One for the Road, is a tragicomedy that follows two middle-aged wasters and a lovelorn student on a boozy journey to Venice. The film, which opens with a deadpan gag about inaudible life advice, is a road movie, buddy movie, and coming-of-age story that embraces infantilism and avoids sweetness.
Plot and Characters
Doriano (Pierpaolo Capovilla) and Carlobianchi (Sergio Romano) are amiably drunk friends living hand-to-mouth in a luxury car bought with proceeds from a scam. Their buddy Genio (Andrea Pennacchi) stole designer glasses from his factory job and sold them with the duo. Genio fled Italy to evade police and is now returning to Venice; Doriano and Carlobianchi hope for a reunion, but a blunder causes them to miss him.
They meet Giulio (Filippo Scotti), a young architecture student nursing unrequited love. The two older men shrewdly sense his pain, and Giulio reluctantly hangs out with them, even taking them to the postmodernist Brion tomb near Treviso, designed by Carlo Scarpa. The tomb's concrete forms meditate on death, reflecting the film's themes.
Themes and Tone
The film is intensely depressing yet funny, a bittersweet comedy without the sweet. It cynically observes drunkenness, sadness, and the tragicomic optimism of ageing boozers who keep drinking in hope of happiness or wisdom. The film begins and ends with the same gag: someone shouts crucial life advice that is inaudible.
According to the review, the film is a likable movie that follows its nose, mooching around like a drunk in the afternoon. It offers an unsentimental view of Venice, with glimpses of Santa Croce and Venice Treviso airport, described as Italy's equivalent of Luton airport.
Release Details
The Last One for the Road is in UK and Irish cinemas from 10 July.
