Alexander Payne
The holdovers - Lezioni di vita

Films set in school colleges do not constitute a novel genre, and certainly the first title that comes to mind is "Dead Poets Society." But "The Holdovers - Lessons of Life," the latest work by Alexander Payne (author of films like "About Schmidt," "Sideways," "Nebraska"), uses this setting as a pretext to propose a broader discourse on the existential dissatisfaction that one can nurture at the stage of life assessments, whether young or when reaching middle age.

The plot unfolds at Barton Academy in New England, USA, near the Christmas holidays of 1970 (during an important and troubled phase of both Yankee and international history). Here study the young progeny of the affluent American bourgeoisie, and classical literature professor Hunham (portrayed by the excellent Paul Giamatti) struggles quite a bit to teach students who are not inclined to study. His rightful severity also clashes with considerations of opportunity when it comes to judging some blockhead who is the child of influential politicians, so much so that the headmaster of the institute suggests to the teacher that it wouldn't be a bad idea to be more lenient with certain wealthy and munificent clients. In short, the professor is not doing all that well, even as he reflects on the dullness of his job (he who has great intellectual abilities).

It so happens that, on the occasion of the Christmas break, students leave the college to return to their families. At least almost all of them, because someone is not so lucky, and forced to stay at the college is a smart but very troublesome student like Angus Tully (played by the newcomer Dominic Sessa, a name to watch for his textbook acting). The boy's unease is due to a difficult family situation, with a father hospitalized in an institution for the care of mentally unstable individuals and a mother who is on her honeymoon with a new man. Professor and student, along with the institute's dining hall cook (she too is going through a problematic phase due to her son's death in action on the Vietnam front), will have to spend two weeks at Barton Academy. These are, therefore, three people who have every right to be angry with the world and with what life has so far reserved for them.

But it is precisely in that time window between Christmas 1970 and New Year's 1971 that the events involving the three will gradually outline unexpected possibilities (and here I do not intend to spoil anything to avoid ruining the surprise) to escape from that existential dead end in which the characters found themselves at the beginning of the story. They will emerge motivated to turn the page, because no matter how demoralized one may feel, one must find the strength to overturn any difficult situation. It is still true that at the end of the tunnel shines the light that brings us back to the surface, endowed with greater determination and strength.

I earlier mentioned a film like "Dead Poets Society" which had a more choral structure compared to "The Holdovers - Lessons of Life." The latter focuses on the experiences of three characters disappointed by life's upsets but not yet resigned. And their experiences make us feel close to them, because director Payne confirms his preference, clearly discernible in his works, for those people who can be classified in the vast category of "ordinary people" endowed with a strong practical sense and devoid of the so-called whims of the "happy few." These are, in short, the vicissitudes of common mortals who must cope with daily hardships and try to better themselves.

Bringing the camera to film everyday life, without frills, as Payne does, is an erudite nod to that American cinema which enlivened the period of the other Hollywood between the late '60s and early '70s of the last century. And, in my opinion, all this revitalizes cinema in general (not only the Yankee one) because it stimulates our empathy and our reflection.