It Will Happen Tonight

Matteo is about to become a father when his mother intervenes and urges the young Oslo-based couple to raise the child in Italy. Like a piece of luggage packed by mistake, the mother of Matteo’s son stands at the automatic airport doors, unable to join the exuberant welcome in the terminal. After she leaves, Matteo has little interest in rejoining the dating pool. But an unknown woman, who plays tennis with him on her wedding day, sears herself into his mind.

The romance plays out in segments, instalments separated by the years that separate the two would-be lovers. Italian director Nanni Moretti’s latest feature (Il Sol Dell’Avvenire) feels overwhelmingly like a romantic comedy with a persistent melancholic undercurrent, but as the story progresses, it gives way to more dramatic beats. It’s a very particular calibration that leaves audiences unsure whether the next moment will make them laugh or cry. Despite indulging in the protagonist’s romanticised fantasy without ever challenging it, the film feels unwaveringly human.

Its humour emerges from the everyday moments one recognises. When Matteo and his brother recount his first meeting with the mystery woman, their version is slightly overplayed. The scene is shown again, now as they describe it: the striking image of a bride staining her long dress with terracotta clay on the tennis court. It’s a breathtaking vision, and even though it is clear this did not quite happen this way, one understands why someone would choose to remember it this way.

Louis Garrel stars as the film’s yearning leading man, charming viewers as he effortlessly switches between French, English and Italian. The love interest of his dreams is played by Jasmine Trinca, who is similarly magnetic from the outset. Though their scenes together have an undeniable sweetness to them, they never seem to fully sustain the intensity built by his seven years of longing.

It is surprisingly in its wider portrayal of the family that the feature seems to find its greatest warmth. Moretti doesn’t rush through wholesome moments such as a father-son trip to Spain to see Bruce Springsteen in concert, but savours their hard-earned joy.

It Will Happen Tonight is a wistful ode to sentimentality, a vermiculated melodrama that feels deliberately old-fashioned and content to revisit well-worn romantic territory, instead of trying to break new ground.

Selina Sondermann

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