Gabriele Muccino's credit that the status quo is not restored without a convincing display of raw emotion and fiery Mediterranean temperament - Mezzogiorno proving that hell hath no fury like an expectant mother scorned. There are many things to love about this film. Giovanna Mezzogiorno's performance is miraculous. The stories are poignantly truthful. The character arcs are rich and full and complete. The technical aspects of the film are immaculate. The resolution is satisfying and honest. You will cringe, you will laugh, you will be joyous and angry... this movie will take you on an emotional roller-coaster. You will almost feel Italian (If you aren't already). And the final few moments of the film will leave you smirking to yourself as you contemplate the resounding irony of it all. How cruel these directors can be! Carlo's premature midlife crisis is mirrored by Giulia's mum Anna (Stefania Sandrelli), who reacts to the news that she's to become a grandmother by leaving her dull hubby and igniting an old flame. Only in Italy would infidelity be a remedy for marital disharmony. But it's to writer/director L'ultimo bacio, a romantic comedy drama film released in 2001, directed by Gabriele Muccino, has been one of the most popular and appreciated films of Italian cinema. The film stars Stefano Accorsi, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, and Stefania Sandrelli in lead roles. The story of L'ultimo bacio revolves around Carlo, a thirty-year-old man who is going through a midlife crisis. He has a steady job and girlfriend Giulia who loves him too, but despite his seemingly comfortable life, he feels like he is missing out on something. He is not happy with the prospect of soon becoming a father, and can't shake the feeling that his youth is slipping away. The cinematography and lighting are first rate. These stunningly gorgeous Italian thespians are made even more resplendent than previously imaginable. Gabriele Muccino directs the film and seems to make every single shot count. You could take any still-frame from this movie and have a photograph to hang in an art gallery.

The film is about the power of love, loyalty, and friendship, as well as the complexities of modern-day relationships. L'ultimo bacio explores the difficult choices people make when they have to choose between settling down and living their wildest dreams. The movie highlights how the pressures and expectations of society can force people to make difficult and life-altering decisions. Roma. Carlo, ventinovenne che aspetta un figlio dalla fidanzata Giulia, rimane incantato dalla sensuale innocenza di Francesca, un'effervescente ragazza di 18 anni conosciuta al matrimonio dell'amico Marco. Tra i due nasce una travolgente attrazione, con Giulia ignara di tutto e alle prese con i preparativi in vista della nascita della loro figlia. Nel frattempo, Adriano, in crisi con la moglie Livia, da cui ha avuto un figlio, medita di andarsene di casa. Nel cast del secondo film non figurano neanche Martina Stella, Stefania Sandrelli, Sergio Castellitto, Carmen Consoli, Ines Nobili, Piero Natoli e Vittorio Amandola (deceduti entrambi prima del sequel), Regina Orioli e Luigi Diberti; in compenso vengono aggiunti altri personaggi, interpretati da Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Primo Reggiani e Adriano Giannini, oltre a Vittoria Puccini che sostituisce, appunto, la Mezzogiorno nel ruolo di Giulia. IT 02/02/2001, DE 24/01/2002, AT 25/01/2002, FR 06/11/2002, BE 13/11/2002, FI 31/01/2002, SE 02/05/2003, NO 20/06/2003, PT 06/12/2002, DK 11/10/2002, NL 21/08/2003 A quasi dieci anni dall'uscita del film che ne ha decretato il successo a livello nazionale ed europeo, nella primavera del 2009 sono iniziate le riprese di Baciami ancora, sequel del film. Il film è uscito il 29 gennaio 2010. Nel cast sono stati riconfermati Pierfrancesco Favino, Claudio Santamaria, Stefano Accorsi, Giorgio Pasotti, Sabrina Impacciatore, Marco Cocci e Daniela Piazza.Nel film del 1990 Pierino torna a scuola, il protagonista e un suo compagno di classe assistono in una piazza di Roma alle riprese di un film chiamato proprio L'ultimo bacio. Il film avrebbe dovuto intitolarsi Non sono pensieri carini, ma il compositore della colonna sonora Paolo Buonvino fece ascoltare a Muccino un brano che stava arrangiando per Carmen Consoli, sua concittadina. Muccino volle subito adottarlo come tema del film e utilizzarne il titolo ( L'ultimo bacio, appunto) come titolo del film. I pointed out the structural similarity to Paul Thomas Anderson's 1999 masterpiece, 'Magnolia'. However, there is more than just a passing resemblance. 'The Last Kiss' is obviously inspired by it's predecessor. It looks and sounds a great deal like that classic. The camera movement is energetic and dynamic. There are a ton of complex 'steadicam' scenes. The score is that anticipatory and frenetic string ensemble that allows us to flow from moment to moment as the editing shifts us from one storyline to another. In fact, the scores are so similar that I initially thought it had been borrowed. The way I see things, if you are going to emulate a film, you can't do much better than emulating 'Magnolia'. Stars: Stefano Accorsi, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Stefania Sandrelli, Martina Stella, Giorgio Pasotti, Claudio Santamaria Personalmente ho qualche dubbio sui sequel. Soprattutto per un film come L'ultimo bacio che è rimasto così profondamente radicato nell'immaginario collettivo. Quando mi hanno parlato di un seguito ho avuto subito qualche dubbio. Ma avendo una grandissima stima per Gabriele Muccino ho chiesto di leggere un trattamento del film, perché mi sembra professionale conoscere la storia. Purtroppo quello che ho letto non mi ha convinto: non mi è piaciuto lo sviluppo del mio personaggio»

The last Kiss is a film about the stories of eight main characters, whose lives connect in rhythmic and parallel passions. They are all different ages: Francesca is eighteen and during the film she falls in love with Carlo, who is now thirty – like his friends Adriano, Alberto and Marco. Marco, in turn, is with 27-year old Giulia, the romantic and idealistic mother of his unborn son. Giulia’s mother Anna, now in her fifties, with twenty-nine years of marriage behind her and a great fear of aging, is coming to accept the end of her youth. international title:

It must be a generational thing. The Last Kiss, a tale of thirtysomething males dithering between responsibility and the open road, is a likeable but fragile film, with little emotional depth. Very much of its time and place, the film is a superficial paean to Muccino's superficial contemporaries: the clean-shaven, financially buoyant, recreational-drug-using, mobile-phone-dependent generation of 30-year-olds which inhabit the smarter suburbs of metropolitan Italy at the beginning of the new millennium. There is a light comic touch about some of the dialogue, but Muccino labours rather too much to create plot mirrors and character contrasts. His story mechanics are in such need of oiling: we can practically hear the cogs squeaking. Muccino's prowling, restless camera and insistence on underscoring every scene with lush mood music are annoying embellishments, and he could have tied up the various plot strands with less indulgence. Still, this is an intelligent and dark-edged romantic comedy that offers a bracing antidote to Love Actually's treacly sentiment.