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.

Production notes

Gianluca Matarrese lays himself bare – quite literally, in the opening scenes of his film – to talk about his friend/lover Bernard, but also himself, in The Last Chapter, a documentary chosen as the closing film of Venice’s International Film Critics’ Week which chronicles the year in which the 40-year-old director dated and filmed, in Paris, 63-year-old Bernard Guyonnet, with whom he enjoyed an on-off sexual relationship, which became an affectionate friendship.

Matarrese follows Bernard as he reflects upon life and death, letting the camera wander, like a curious eye, through the secret world of an ordinary man. And he follows him into nightclubs to meet friends, in his relocation, in the transportation of his precious Peugeot 404 dating back to the Sixties, in his new apartment and in the search for his black cat which has run off.

Camillo De Marco, Cineuropa

The director Gianluca Matarrese is present in the screenings on Thu, Feb 2 and Sat, Feb 4.