At first I figured that the title translated to "The Overpass." It's actually "The Overtaking," which refers to the many times that the main driver speeds to pass another, and I suspect a metaphorical second meaning. In the English-speaking world, the film is sometimes advertised as "The Easy Life."
On a literal Roman holiday, driver Bruno can't get standard service, so he asks the first stranger he can find to help him phone some friends he plans to meet. That stranger, Roberto, is painfully shy and studying for a law exam, but when it's apparent that the meeting won't happen, he accepts Bruno's spontaneous invitation to do something more holidayish: drive around and pretty much do whatever promises to be fun. Roberto can hardly explain to himself why he's leaving his comfort zone, but Bruno's extremely different personality -- boisterous, cheerful, motor-mouthed, rude without provocation, unruly, mooching, arrogant -- clearly intrigues him.
Netflix calls IS "the ultimate Italian road comedy." Well, it's not a comedy in the Divine Comedy sense, and not for the first time, I can hardly tell when it tries to be funny. Sure, the setup and personality contrast are improbable, but there's not much more to it than that. It reminds me of non-com Easy Rider (which I hated) more than anything else.
Nevertheless, I don't pan IS. It does make for an interesting character study. Even fleeting minor characters show some quirks, making it feel fleshed out even with a minimalist plot. Alexander Payne, in the DVD introduction, cites it as an inspiration for his Sideways, which I rather liked.
One odd thing about Bruno is that he drives a lot of people nuts but can also turn on charisma like nobody's business. When he meets Roberto's family, they seem to prefer Bruno to Roberto. He also indicates that despite acting high on life, he's rather lonely. Neither his ex-wife nor their teen daughter respects him much. For whatever reason, he would've liked to have a younger brother like wet blanket Roberto -- possibly to enjoy easing him out of it.
We are privy to a few of Roberto's unspoken thoughts, which tend to clash with his actions. It's a testament to his dull life to date that we still feel like we know Bruno a lot better. Roberto has a crush but never speaks to her. He hasn't done much of anything adult, like drive or drink. So of course he changes a bit as the story unfolds.
Bruno, alas, doesn't appear to do the same. Are we to believe in a happy medium or embrace his lifestyle, however annoying and dangerous? I'm not sure what the director intended. Sources tell me that contemporary Italy had its share of Brunos; maybe I need more contextual awareness for full appreciation.
Oh yeah: Get used to hearing his car's distinctive horn. About a hundred times. Someone working on the film must have had a breakdown.
IS influenced quite a few successors, primarily road movies. I don't mind having watched it, but I'll hold off on those successors for a while.
No comments:
Post a Comment