Il sorpasso

The first time you see this film, it might just pass you by as light-hearted, but the ending will force you to dwell on it. This is what happened to me. A closer look revealed that this is a profound, double-sided, paradoxical film. Vittorio Gassman and Jean-Louis Trintagnant project opposite perspectives throughout the film, so that each scene contains both joy and sadness, intoxication and contemplation. As they drive from place to place, Gassman's life force is placed at a critical distance by Trintagnant's presence. Both performances are brilliant. A great film, poetic, bitter-sweet, unforgettable.

This is simply one of the greatest films of all time. Yes, up there with "Modern Times" and "Los Olvidados," but for entirely different reasons. It is a convincing celebration of life that I have never experienced in any other movie. Gassman will move you to tears and laughter in a beautiful performance. The plot? An attempt to introduce a nerd to the world of chromatic living and accelerated emotion. Do the consequences matter? Yes? No? You'll love it anyway. If you can't get an English version, it doesn't matter. Listen to the original Italian and marvel at the significance of the depth and the architecture that penetrates the screen.

Kurosawa said a truly great movie should be enjoyable. That's certainly the case with "Il Sorpasso". You can watch it as a comical road movie. Or you can watch it as a snapshot of Italy's economic boom and carefree euphoria of the 1960s. Or you can watch it as a coming of age film. Or you can watch it as a profound philosophical commentary on living in the moment. One way or another, just watch it.

"Bruno" (Vittorio Gassman in his first comic role) is a smooth talking, fun-loving, overgrown adolescent who lives his life hour by hour. By chance he encounters "Roberto" (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who is a shy, sheltered introvert. Somehow Bruno shanghais his reluctant young passenger into a cross country road trip. The rest is anybody's guess.

Many have credited this film as kick starting the road movie genre. "Easy Rider" which came out in 1969 was directly influenced by this film, as are films as recent as "Sideways" (2004). Strangely enough, in the 70 years since "Il Sorpasso" I don't think any road movie nailed one particular defining quality as well as director Dino Risi did here. Although this film is very episodic, with characters fleeting in and out like in all road movies, Risi and the camera take extra care to give importance to even the most trivial characters. People who don't even say a word but whose presence imply entire stories unto themselves.

This also adds a tremendous amount of interest and intrigue to this otherwise breezy presentation. The 2 German girls from the beginning... will they show up again? What about the waitress "Dark Eyes" who gave Roberto such a meaningful, lingering stare? Or Aunt Lidia, whom the camera graces through a window as they're driving off and she mournfully puts her hair back up in a bun... what's her story? The film is packed full of moments like that, and we realize that this movie isn't just about our 2 main characters and a handful of others, but it's about everyone whom the camera catches.

You'll notice this almost immediately. The film begins in a completely deserted Rome where the 2 protagonists meet, and from there almost every person they meet is significant, all the way up to its memorable conclusion. Guaranteed you won't forget this film.

Although to all intents and purposes this film from Dino Risi is a brilliant example of Commedia all' Italiana it remains a 'Road' movie in all but name. The Road in this case is the Via Aurelia that runs from Rome to Tuscany and the title refers to the aggressive overtaking indulged in by the free spirited Bruno behind the wheel of his Lancia Aurelia Sport. His passenger here is the shy, mild mannered law student Roberto.

This film really struck a chord with Italian audiences and despite negative reviews it was word of mouth that made it such a spectacular success. Sixty years on it still packs a punch and has had an immeasurable influence on later directors.

This marvellously constructed piece gets better as it goes on and like Risi's previous masterwork 'La Vita Difficile', gives us a beautifully observed picture of the Italy of the new prosperity known as 'Il Boom'. Bruno and Roberto look as if they might have been inspired by Dean and Sal in Jack Kerouac's seminal 'On the Road'. Just a theory of course.

There are some finely drawn performances throughout but its strength of course lies in the relationship between the unlikely buddies Bruno of Vittorio Gassman and Roberto of Jean-Louis Trintignant. To see two such exceptional actors playing off each other is an absolute joy. Gassman has the showiest part and his magnificent performance is further testament to his excellent working relationship with this director. Trintignant brings his customary air of mystery to the role and is no less effective. Good writing makes good actors even better and the script by Risi and Ettore Scola is superlative, by turns introspective and hilarious. It is a work full of paradoxes and ironies, climaxing in the cruellest irony of all.

Surprisingly the bleak ending did not affect its popularity. "It's a bit cruel," said Risi, "but that's Life. A beautiful vacation that ends in tragedy."

When Bruno hits the road in his Lancia Aurelia B24 sport with the nerdish Roberto, it's a whirlwind ride for the audience as well, with your emotions riding high throughout. Gassman's "Bruno" is as perfect a portrait as one can imagine of the Italian who just floats through life, never taking things or others very seriously, always finding shortcuts and discovering truths that others disparage or fear. He's the classic embodiment of the Italian "furbo" (wise guy), who thinks he knows how to "play" the world and all the people in it. One of the greatest cinematic explorations of the stuff of contemporary life you'll ever see and the possibilities (all too limited) of overcoming the alienation inherent in it.