Episode 2 | Avanti! (A Hot Night for You)
The plane lands in Naples.
Wendell (Jack Lemmon), an American businessman,
hurries to Italy after receiving news of his father's sudden death.
But what awaited him at the airport was a reality he never imagined.
His father hadn't just died—
he had died in an accident while on vacation with his mistress.
The hotel manager smiles, and the locals accept it quietly.
Wendell is surprised, angry, and bewildered.
But the moment he meets Pamela (Juliet Mills), the 'mistress's daughter' of his late father,
something inside him slowly begins to melt.
A story of forgiveness in the guise of a comedy.
'Avanti!' looks like a romantic comedy at first glance.
But in reality, it isa story about cultural differences and shedding one's emotional armor.
Wendell, an American businessman,
manages everything by schedule and tries to move on time.
The people of Italy are the opposite.
They are cheerful, free-spirited, and do not hide their emotions.
At first, they clash.
But in the slow, Mediterranean pace of time,
Wendell gradually learns that 'richness is more important than being right'.
“Everything in America is too rushed.
Here, you can actually taste life.”
This line strikes at the heart of the film.
Jack Lemmon, in his mature humor.
Even with the same director and lead actor duo (Wilder x Lemmon),
it is different from the days of 'The Apartment'.
Here, Lemmon is not an anxious young man, but a 'hard-hearted adult'.
Wilder takes his time depicting the process of his expression gradually softening.
The Italian scenery, the old hotel, the sun-drenched rooms.
All of it makes the audience feel a 'second chance at life'.
While laughing, it is also somewhat poignant.
Old age and death, past mistakes, and love that arrives late.
“Who decided that people should only fall in love when they are young?”
—Pamela
A kindness that feels like Wilder's testament.
Among Wilder's often cynical works, 'Avanti!' is
the gentlest film, and the one that forgives humanity the most.
Every character is imperfect, a bit foolish, and somehow lovable.
Even death is depicted not as a tragedy, but as a 'catalyst for reunion'.
When you finish watching this film,
your own life's failures and mistakes start to feel just a little bit dearer.
There is no other film that depicts the meaning of being 'forgiven'
with such lightness.
The meaning of watching it now.
The modern world is filled with 'correctness' and 'efficiency'.
But this film laughs at that.
It doesn't punish human folly; it embraces it.
Wilder's gaze remains warm even in his old age.
It is as if he is saying, 'Life really begins after you've failed once.'
Under the sun of Southern Italy,
the characters accept their pasts,
and finally learn to love themselves.
That scene is the greatest joy of "Avanti!".
[Film Information]
"Avanti!"
1972 / USA-Italy Co-production / Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Juliet Mills
