Released in Italy in 1962, Il Sorpasso (The Overtaking or The Easy Life) is one of the finest examples of commedia all'Itliana. The Italian neorealist film genre mixed biting satire with irony and social criticism, and was popular in Italy between the late 1950s and 1970s. Il Sorpasso is full of life and action, slipping into documentary style at points, with real people and situations serving as extras and backdrops.
Il Sorpasso is one of my favorite buddy films. Directed and co-written by Dino Risi, it stars Vittorio Gassman, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Catherine Spaak. French film lovers will recognize Trintignant as the co-star of Claude Lelouch's A Man and a Woman (1966). [Photo still above of Vittorio Gassman and Jean-Louis Trintignant]
The Risi masterpiece is many things at once—a coming of age film, a complex portrait of a man unable to grow up, a look at Italian life at the dawn of the 1960s, the widening gap between the middle class and new Italian industrial wealth, Italian popular culture just as it was being invaded by American pop music, and a snapshot of Italian sexuality. [Photo above of the film's Lancia Ariel Sport]
What makes this film special, in addition to its restless mobility, is Gassman's masterful portrayal of a ruggedly handsome winner who always lands sunny side up and is completely at ease with women, as if they share some secret language. And Trintignant's portrayal of a more timid man trying to keep up. In many ways, Trintignant represents the safety of Italy in the 1950s while Gassman is the daring and dangerous 1960s, hurtling into the unknown. [Photo still above of Vittorio Gassman in Il Sorpasso]
The two-day countryside and seaside odyssey of Bruno Cortona (Gassman) and Roberto Mariani (Trintignant) is a modern Canterbury Tale of sorts. The pair encounter all types of scenarios and characters as Trintignant finds himself torn between a desire to return to his studies in Rome and and the magnetic pull to remain with his cool new friend, Bruno and convertible Lancia Ariel Sport in which they travel. The car tops out at 120km per hour. [Photo still above of Catherine Spaak]
Constantly in motion and never dull, Il Sorpasso is at once energetically upbeat and deeply sad as Bruno relentlessly seeks a good time and Roberto can't seem to break out of his shell. The film features original jazz scored by Riz Ortolani, most famously known for composing More for the film Mondo Cane (1962). It's also peppered by Italian jukebox pop of the day. If you wind up digging the score as much as I do, you'll find it at Spotify here. [Photo still above of Jean-Louis Trintignant]
Here's Il Sorpasso (1962)...
