Director Dina Duma exhibits a little of the classic directors’ lyrism in the wonderful war drama ‘The Last Act’. The film is beautifully directed and filmed, the actors act remarkable, and both the costumes and sets contribute wonderfully to the film’s overall mood.
One can only get lost and forget about reality in Dina Duma’s intense film. The story happens during Mussolini’s dictatorship in World War II and is epically (as epical as it can get for a short film) tracking several character destinies in war time, destinies that will criss-cross and twist, dividing good and bad then mixing until both sides will become victims of their own acts.
The war won’t spare anyone and neither will the director, who manages to remain objective and fair regarding both the characters and the public. This is an ability rarely found. Characters’ reactions are humane and logic and film fans will feel like watching real life. ‘The Last Act’ will make one notice that ‘hunters’ and ‘preys’ change roles with each others depending on each one’s acts, on altering reality and most of all on feelings (which will victimize them all in the end).
The war will not glorify anyone but will only prove to them all how fragile destiny can be when facing human haste. We very much appreciated the director’s control over authorial instinct of interfering too much with these destinies, the pictorial cinematography and the dedication we felt in making of ‘The Last Act’. One of the best films in TMFF so far.
We tried to reveal as little as possible because this is a must see!
TMFF RATING:
