Andiamo A Bere L’Ultima
A tragicomic road movie about two men in their fifties who, whilst on a boozy journey through the Venetian countryside, are joined by a shy architecture student. Winner of eight David di Donatello Awards (the Italian Oscars).
Carlobianchi and Doriano are charismatic yet penniless fiftysomething petty criminals with larger-than-life personalities and a treasure trove of stories about their glory days. They’ve never really left their hometown in Veneto and subsist on memories and bar fare. Filling their late-starting days and their nights that turn into mornings with drink – until their ‘last beer’ (l’ultima) – rising bills are getting harder and harder to pay. If only they could dig up the cash their old friend Genio buried after a job before he left for Argentina…
When they meet Giulio, a sweet and shy architecture student who is adrift in life, the old-timers decide to take the hapless boy under their wing and embark on a road trip through the Venetian plains to revive his zest for life.
The seemingly meaningless conversations the men have do, in fact, have a purpose: their past, the changing landscape around Venice, but also the beauty of decay and the longing for a little dog. Essentially, it is about connection, regret, memory and meaning. This makes the film a melancholic, bittersweet and at times enigmatic story, in which alcohol provides a much-needed escape from the hopeless lives of two men. (source: www.tiff.net, adapted)