Synopsis:
Rome, August 15th. Bruno, a charming, talkative, and swaggering character, roams the deserted streets at the wheel of his sports car (the iconic car of those years, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta convertible). He takes Roberto, a shy young student, on a series of unusual, ridiculous, and perilous adventures… until tragedy strikes.
A virtuoso filmmaker, Dino Risi occasionally interrupts the journey of his two protagonists to provide a fascinating testimony on Italy of that period, approaching the style of a documentary. But it is the call of the road, the strong point of the script (co-written by Ettore Scola, who himself would become one of the best Italian directors) and its symbolic representation of deceptive modernity through the collective myth of vacations and social well-being, suggesting a need to enjoy the present moment and indulge in easy pleasures.
A magnificent braggart and high-stakes gambler with a booming voice, Vittorio Gassman plays the lead male role. At his side is a young and promising Jean-Louis Trintignant, as well as the adolescent Catherine Spaak, who was beginning a career that would establish her as a significant figure in Italian cinema.
Dino Risi was one of the great masters of Italian comedy. With a keenly sharp eye and an incomparable sense of rhythm, he created several masterpieces of post-war cinema and directed brilliant actors like Vittorio Gassman, his favorite actor, Ugo Tognazzi, Sophia Loren, and Marcello Mastroianni.
His most important films were:
– “Poor but Beautiful” (1957).
– “The Man with a Hundred Faces” (1959).
– “The Easy Life” (1962).
– “March on Rome” (1962), a satire on fascism.
– “The Priest’s Wife” (1970), which criticizes the Catholic Church.
– “Scent of a Woman” (1974), where a blind officer is torn between his desire for love and his will to die.
– “Anima Persa” (1980), with Romy Schneider, where a man believes he sees the now-deceased woman he once loved.
After receiving the Golden Lion (in Venice, 2002) for his entire career, Dino Risi passed away six years later at the age of 91.
