Critic's Grade: A+

Poll any group of movie directors on the best films ever made and IL Sorpasso will always be named.Meanwhile,no English version was ever made and even the Italian version is hard to find.
Il Sorpasso literally is the guy who is always passing everyone-with style and carefree abandon.Il Sorpasso is Vittorio Gassman who is the prototipical Italian male.
In the 1980s Italy had an economic boom that propelled it past the rest of Europe.This period is referred to by Italians as Il Sorpasso.
Gasmann plays Bruno,who picks up Roberto (Trintignant),a shy law student,who is so inhibited ,he may as well be Swiss.
They come across a traffic accident where Bruno immediately tries to exploit the situation by picking up some distressed merchandise.In fact they will pass by 3 accidents,none of which slows Bruno down.
Bruno tries to seduce every female he encounters,including his daughter-whom he does not recognize.
They make a pit stop at a freeway restaurant where Bruno has to explain that if the men's room is busy you just help yourself to the women's (this was before handicapped rest rooms).
Bruno crashes his ex-wife's home at 3AM,gets ejected,and ends up sleeping on the beach.Bruno and Roberto get woken up by a swarm of kids partying.

This transition is very similar to La Dolce Vita,where you cut from drunken middle aged Romans at night to a beach scene with some kids at a beach restaurant and Patricia playing on the juke box.Like FEllini,you have candid close-ups of the faces of the kids,who are not actors,and completely natural.
The argument for Bruno is that he is still like the kids and unlike his peers who have all sold out.That is why this movie was the inspiration for Easy Rider.
Il Sorpasso has cult status because it is the most credible portrayal of the Italian male.If you were literal to the point of idiocy,you would believe everything the priest told you and end up like Roberto-alone in a room with a book.
The most successful Brazilian film,Donna Flor and Her Two Husbands,deals with a womanizing man who dies young,leaving his wife penniless.She marries a pharmacist,but fantasizes about the lothario.
It should come as no surprise that Il Sorpasso is the favorite Italian film among Braziliian males.
After 2 days of partying,Roberto finally sees the light,decides to become a real man,urges Bruno to pass on a dangerous curve,the car goes over a cliff,leavin Breuno unscathed and Roberto dead.

All Reviews by Fred Landis
If you are the author of this review, you may edit it by signing in.