The Last Will Be the Last (2015)

I never cared much about Massimiliano Bruno's films as he usually does comedies and Italian comedies are pretty bad these days. The Last Will Be the Last (Italian: Gli ultimi saranno ultimi) is a dramedy though and it has Alessandro Gassmann in it so I gave it a chance. 

The film follows Luciana (Paola Cortellesi), a woman who can't really complain about her life. Sure, she is not the wealthiest woman as she is only a factory worker but she is happily married to Stefano (Alessandro Gassmann) and she is surrounded by friends. On top of that, her dream of becoming a mother is finally coming true. Unfortunately, her contract is coming to an end and her employer doesn't renew it because of her pregnancy. Since her husband spends all of his time hanging out in cafes and doing unsuccessful businesses, she finds herself in a difficult financial and familiar situation.

There are a couple of stories that intertwine with Luciana's, that of Antonio (Fabrizio Bentivoglio), a frustrated and disgraced police officer who got transferred to Luciana's town after an unfortunate incident, and that of Manuela, a trans woman who just wants a normal life.

The Last Will Be the Last doesn't have much of a plot, to be honest, but it's not a problem as it manages to touch many issues we have in Italy nowadays such as being jobless and the lack of financial means to provide for your family. Not only this turns a beautiful thing such as having a baby into something to worry about, but it prevents people from leading a dignified life. The film also deals with gambling and shows how it easily can destroy a family.

What the film does best is portraying a woman in modern-day Italy. Married to an immature man incapable of taking any sort of responsibility, Luciana does a job she doesn't like, a job that doesn't even pay that well, but she puts up with it because she has to put food on the table and keep a roof over her and her husband's head.

01 Distribution

That is one of the reasons Luciana's is the most compelling story, the one it's easier to emphasize and sympathize with. Then, of course, there's the performance by Paola Cortellesi. I've seen her only once before, and it was in a dumb comedy, so I wasn't expecting much from her but she blew me away. She gives such a strong and touching performance in here and really makes me want to see more of her work. 

The supporting cast, specifically Alessandro Gassmann as the husband and Fabrizio Bentivoglio as the cop, does a pretty good job too. 

What's unfortunate about The Last Will Be the Last is that the filmmakers weren't able to achieve that balance between comedy and drama you need in a dramedy. While the drama works fine, the comedy barely works.