The last chapter

La dernière séance

 

 

A sexual adventure between a master and a slave
becomes a daring and intimate exchange between two generations

A young filmmaker and an older man on the verge of retiring. It begins as a sexual adventure, mutual desire, games of domination and submission, master and slave. But it becomes much more, an exchange between generations, both joyous and fearful. Between a whip and a leather harness they discuss love, death, the AIDS epidemic of the 80s, a project for a new life, their own bond. An intimate and daring story about friendship and love, a relentless tale of life approaching its ending. 

Gianluca Matarrese (1980) was born in Torino and moved to Paris in 2002 to study cinema and theater. He graduated in History and Critique of North American Cinema at the University of Torino and Paris VIII, also graduating at the Ecole Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. In 2008 he started working in French television, as author, reporter, artistic coordinator, segment producer. His own sit-comedy show aired for 100 episodes on OCS networks in France. He also works as an actor for cinema and theater in France. Between 2013 and 2014 he directed two short-films. My Movie-like Kiss was awarded the Achille Valdata at the Torino Film Festival. In 2019 his documentary Everything Must Go won the award for Best Italian Documentary at the Torino Film Festival. He is currently working on two films, Fashion Babylon e A Steady Job, the latter co-directed with Mattia Colombo. 

I met Bernard in a moment of my life when I was immersed in a research related to the exploration of myself through the body. I kept dating him to discover more about him, about myself, about so many things I would never have imagined. Eventually I realized that sex was not my story, but a vehicle full of meaning: the metaphor of the inner state of my main witness, the photograph of his era. Bernard is 63, I am 38. Who am I to him? A son? A brother? The Italian boyfriend that AIDS snatched from his arms when he was my age? Bernard moves out, and says he’ll want to burn all the photos of his past. Bernard doesn’t want to know where he came from, but he knows exactly where he wants to end up.
What does it mean to retire from life? What do we take with us, what do we leave behind?
Bernard never appears austere, nor sad, nor trashy. He is a bright character and
his gaze on life is as tender as a child’s.

Original title: La dernière séance

English title: The last Chapter

Directed by: Gianluca Matarrese 

Written by: Gianluca Matarrese, Nico Morabito 

Producer: Giovanni Donfrancesco 

Associate Producer: Jasmina Sijercic 

Artistic Producer: Maria Bonsanti 

DOP: Gianluca Matarrese 

Editor: Gianluca Matarrese, Giorgia Villa, Giovanni Donfrancesco 

Sound Editor: Davide Giorgio 

Sound Mix: Tommaso Barbaro 

Produced by: Altara Films e Bocalupo Films

 

With the support of: CNC, Milano Film Network 2020 post-production Award