La dernière séance

The Last Chapter

Now that the Frenchman Bernard is retired, he is starting the final chapter of his life. He's moving into a new apartment, which will probably be his last. The much younger Gianluca Matarrese films his lover as they have sex – they have a BDSM relationship in which Bernard is the master – as well as during more mundane activities: searching for a lost cat, carefully packing up the dishware. Their conversations are about Bernard’s life. He lost both his first and his great love to AIDS. He himself came through this dark period physically unscathed, but now the years are slipping by. Matarrese portrays his lover intimately. The close-ups of Bernard’s face express life experience, wisdom, and above all, love. The result is an open and unabashed portrait of love in one of its many manifestations. (IDFA)

Director's Filmography (Selection)
La dernière séance (The Last Chapter, 2021, doc) - Fashion Babylon (2021, doc) - Barbara Pravi, voilà qui je suis (2020, mid-length TV doc) - Everything Must Go (2019, doc)
European Panorama Documentary 2022
Gianluca Matarrese
Italy / France 2021
color
100 minutes
French
OV with English subtitles
Screenplay Gianluca Matarrese, Nico Morabito
Cinematography Gianluca Matarrese
Editing Gianluca Matarrese, Giorgia Villa, Giovanni Donfrancesco
Sound/Sounddesign Davide Giorgio, Tommaso Barbaro
With Bernard Guyonnet
Producer(s) Giovanni Donfrancesco, Jasmina Sijercic
Production
Altara Films, Bocalupo Films
World Sales
Amarena Film
Austrian Premiere
World Premiere
Venice International Film Festival 2021