Description

The ultimate Italian road comedy, Il sorpasso stars the unlikely pair of Vittorio Gassman and Jean-Louis Trintignant as, respectively, a waggish, freewheeling bachelor and the straitlaced law student he takes on a madcap trip from Rome to Tuscany. An unpredictable journey that careers from slapstick to tragedy, this film, directed by Dino Risi, is a wildly entertaining commentary on the pleasures and consequences of the good life. A holy grail of commedia all’italiana, Il sorpasso is so fresh and exciting that one can easily see why it has long been adored in Italy.

Special Features

• New 2K digital restoration
• New introduction by filmmaker Alexander Payne
• New interviews with screenwriter Ettore Scola and film scholar Rémi Fournier Lanzoni
• Interview from 2004 with director Dino Risi, conducted by film critic Jean A. Gili
• Introduction by actor Jean-Louis Trintignant from a 1983 French television broadcast of the film
• A Beautiful Vacation, a 2006 documentary on Risi featuring interviews with the director and his collaborators and friends
• Excerpts from a 2012 documentary that returns to Castiglioncello, the location for the film’s beach scenes
• Speaking with Gassman, a 2005 documentary on the relationship between actor Vittorio Gassman and Risi, directed by Risi’s son Marco
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by critic Phillip Lopate, an essay by critic Antonio Monda (dual-format only), as well as excerpts from Risi’s writings, with an introduction by film critic Valerio Caprara (dual-format only)