Kurosawa said a truly great movie should be enjoyable. That's certainly the case with "Il Sorpasso". You can watch it as a comical road movie. Or you can watch it as a snapshot of Italy's economic boom and carefree euphoria of the 1960s. Or you can watch it as a coming of age film. Or you can watch it as a profound philosophical commentary on living in the moment. One way or another, just watch it.
"Bruno" (Vittorio Gassman in his first comic role) is a smooth talking, fun-loving, overgrown adolescent who lives his life hour by hour. By chance he encounters "Roberto" (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who is a shy, sheltered introvert. Somehow Bruno shanghais his reluctant young passenger into a cross country road trip. The rest is anybody's guess.
Many have credited this film as kick starting the road movie genre. "Easy Rider" which came out in 1969 was directly influenced by this film, as are films as recent as "Sideways" (2004). Strangely enough, in the 70 years since "Il Sorpasso" I don't think any road movie nailed one particular defining quality as well as director Dino Risi did here. Although this film is very episodic, with characters fleeting in and out like in all road movies, Risi and the camera take extra care to give importance to even the most trivial characters. People who don't even say a word but whose presence imply entire stories unto themselves.
This also adds a tremendous amount of interest and intrigue to this otherwise breezy presentation. The 2 German girls from the beginning... will they show up again? What about the waitress "Dark Eyes" who gave Roberto such a meaningful, lingering stare? Or Aunt Lidia, whom the camera graces through a window as they're driving off and she mournfully puts her hair back up in a bun... what's her story? The film is packed full of moments like that, and we realize that this movie isn't just about our 2 main characters and a handful of others, but it's about everyone whom the camera catches.
You'll notice this almost immediately. The film begins in a completely deserted Rome where the 2 protagonists meet, and from there almost every person they meet is significant, all the way up to its memorable conclusion. Guaranteed you won't forget this film.
