The Last Will Be the Last

Luciana, who works at a factory near Rome, learns she is pregnant and is dismissed the same day. Her husband is unemployed, her neighbour in the carabinieri is unhappy with his own life, and nobody in the town can help anyone. The day ends with her taking a gun and settling accounts herself. Massimiliano Bruno wrote and directed, from his own stage play. Paola Cortellesi plays Luciana, with Fabrizio Bentivoglio and Alessandro Gassmann in the cast. The film starts as comedy and drifts somewhere else entirely; nothing in the last half hour is funny. The subject is working conditions in Italy directly: women dismissed when pregnant, undeclared employment, and the dependence created by having to take whatever work exists in the provinces. Cortellesi carries both tones and takes the film's weight. The closing scene caused argument in Italy; some found it too harsh, others called it the only honest ending available. Who it is for: viewers who like Italian films that move from comedy into social drama. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a light evening; this leaves you somewhere heavy.