The Last One for the Road follows two barflies through the back side of Veneto, at VIFF Centre
Down-and-out buddies follow the randomness of life in evocatively shot Italian film by Francesco Sossai
The Last One for the Road
The Last One for the Road screens to May 14 at VIFF Centre
IN FRANCESCO SOSSAI’S The Last One for the Road is a charmingly meandering ode to the byways and villages around Venice—but definitely not the ones you see in travel books. Instead, aging drinking buddies Carlobianchi (Sergio Romano) and Doriano (singer-songwriter Pierpaolo Capovilla) take their road trip past factory sprawl, empty Venetian plains, and graffiti’d walls, into dive bars and up onto cliffside grappa patios.
In fact, the broke barflies are always on a search for their last drink—never satisfied, never wanting to miss out on a party. “It’s something that goes beyond thirst,” one says. And that serves as the central metaphor for a movie that’s surprisingly melancholy behind its sweet, chaotic banter: it’s about aging, and always wanting more and never quite attaining it. Sossai infuses it all with memories and imaginings that give it all the feel of a nostalgic dream—enhanced by the mesmerizing film-stock cinematography.
To describe the plot misses the point of a film that’s more about two 50-somethings on an eternal, chaotic bar hop, welcoming experiences, sharing random stories, usually about the past—especially their lost 1990s youth, and the women, money, and dogs they lost in Italy’s 2000s industrial crash.
Most randomly of all, they pick up adrift young architecture student Giulio (Filippo Scotti) along the way. It’s hilarious to watch these two losers doling out life advice—but maybe a generation serious about school and work could learn a thing or two about letting go, taking risks, and heading out for the last, last one.
What's most refreshing about the film is that, instead of featuring chiselled actors with a bit of stubble, you get the authentic feeling that time has taken its toll on the two central characters—much like what it's done to the Veneto landscape. In fact, they look many bar years older than the 50-somethings they are. And so maybe the best plan of action is always to have another drink. As one says, "We’re too old to grow up." 
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