In L’ultima notte di Amore, Andrea Di Stefano managed to manage every single element with dignity, creating the right balance between action scenes and personal dramas resulting from important moral dilemmas. Nothing is so obvious in his film but at the same time the director is never judgmental towards his protagonist. At the Berlinale 2023.
Before retirement
It’s been nine years since actor Andrea Di Stefano made his debut behind the camera. After the success of Escobarmade precisely in 2014, he first directed The Informer – Three Seconds to Survive (2019), thus arriving at this one 73to edition of the Berlin International Film Festival with The Last Night of Lovepresented in world preview within the section Berlinale Special Gala. Here too, as in his previous works, the influence of overseas cinema is felt strongly and clearly (since Di Stefano has always divided his career between Italy and the United States). Here too, a constant crescendo of tension is the leitmotif throughout the entire feature film.
A final “with a bang”
We are in Milan. The staged story is that of the police inspector Franco Amore (played by Pierfrancesco Favino). The man, after thirty-five years of service and without ever firing a gun, is about to retire. About ten days before his retirement, however, he will almost by chance save the life of a boss of the Chinese underworld, who, having immediately sensed his moral rigor and his loyalty, will ask him to carry out an assignment for him, in exchange for a large sum of money: Franco will have to pick up a person at the airport carrying a mysterious briefcase and accompany him to the home of the aforementioned boss. During the mission, however, he will be stopped by the police, the situation will worsen and, following a shootout, everyone (including a colleague and friend of his) will die except him. What to do, therefore, to come out “clean”, while also saving one’s own life and that of one’s loved ones?
Milan silent spectator
The camera moves nimbly in a suggestive overview of the city of Milan at night, at the opening of the feature film. Slowly he stops right in front of the lighted windows of Franco Amore’s apartment: there his wife and his friends are organizing a surprise party for him in view of his retirement. It’s just a pity that – as we will soon find out – the aforementioned “crime” has already happened. And, in fact, in L’ulast nooct of Love constant tension and the foreboding that nothing good is about to happen keeps the viewer in suspense from the first minutes.
Moral dilemmas
Andrea Di Stefano managed to manage every single element with dignity, creating the right balance between action scenes (the shootings inside a gallery on the outskirts of Milan are particularly impactful, as are the various chases, now in the car, now even on foot) and personal dramas arising from important moral dilemmas (“cwhat to do? Report yourself to the police or try to run away, saving your life?”). Nothing is so obvious in L’ulast nooct of Lovebut at the same time the director is never judgmental towards his protagonist.
Hasty conclusions
If, however, there is something in this latest feature film by Di Stefano that just doesn’t convince, it is precisely the ending; an ending in which a totally hasty and banal solution makes the entire feature film lose credibility. A feature film which for practically its entire duration stood out for its good management of time and space and for well-rounded characters (particularly noteworthy, in this regard, is the figure of Vanessa, Franco’s wife, played from Linda Caridi). A film that has further confirmed the directorial talent of Andrea Di Stefano. We just have to wait to see after this interesting L’ulast nooct of Lovewhat other surprises will it have in store for us.
Form
Original title: The Last Night of Love
Director: Andrew DiStefano
Country/year: Italy / 2023
Duration: 120′
Type: Drama, Thriller
Cast: Francesco Di Leva, Pierfrancesco Favino, Antonio Gerardi, Carlo Gallo, Fabrizio Rocchi, Katia Mironova, Linda Caridi, Mauro Milone, Shi Yang Shi, Camilla Semino Favro, Chandra Vivian Perkins, Edoardo Spina, Fifi Wang, Mao Wen, Marco Milone, Martin Francisco Montero Baez, Matilde Vigna, Mauro Negri, Pang Bo, Ruichi Xu
Film script: Andrew DiStefano
Photography: Guido Michelotti
Assembly: Giogio Franchini
Music: Holy Pulvirents
Producer: Benedetto Habib, Marco Cohen, Daniel Campos Pavoncelli, Fabio Lombardelli, Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Marco Colombo, Fabrizio Donvito
Production House: Indiana Production, MeMo Films, Vision Distribution, Sky Italia, Adler Entertainment
Distribution: Vision Distribution
Exit date: 09/03/2023
Trailer
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