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Rating: It happens that the Italian film distribution, during the vacation month par excellence like August, circulates films that are not fresh in terms of dating. It's practically scraping the bottom of the barrel and remembering at least decent films left to gather dust in some obscure drawer. Forgotten perhaps simply because they could be inconvenient works due to the theme addressed and perhaps lacking a certain commercial appeal. In short, a truly indecent oblivion that does not do good for cinema in general and rightfully makes one angry.
And what else should one think when going to see, these August days, a Belgian film like "Hasta la vista" directed by Geoffrey Enthoven in 2011 and presented that year at the Rome festival with favorable reviews? But of course, perhaps in Italy distributing a film dedicated to the theme of "people with disabilities and their legitimate need to live their sexuality" might have seemed too daring for the Italian audience, heaven forbid we talk too much about certain issues. Only now, in the midst of August 2021, is the film timidly released without much media clamour. Try to understand these distributors, also considering that we are talking about a work belonging to the genre of bitter comedies without any mischievous hints.
The story concerns a trio of Belgian boys with disabilities (magnificently interpreted by three able-bodied actors such as Tom Audenaert, Gilles De Schrijver, Robrecht Vauden Thoren). They are Jozeph (visually impaired), Lars (tetraplegic), and Philip (paralyzed in the lower limbs on a wheelchair, with a short life expectancy diagnosed). They are therefore united by a very limited existence under the protective wing of parents anxious for the fate of their children.
One of the three comes up with the idea of embarking on a 15-day journey from Flanders, through the French hinterland, to the Mediterranean coasts of Spain. Here, in one of the various seaside resorts, according to reliable sources, there would be a luxury brothel known for its impeccable service for any type of clientele. Nothing better for those who would like to be initiated into the pleasures of sex, thus avoiding ending their days in a state of virginity. The project is certainly expensive, even resorting to the transport service on an equipped van provided by a non-profit organization and driven by a corpulent nurse, but it's still worth it despite the doubts expressed by the boys' parents.
And thus the journey begins amidst various plot twists (not to be revealed so as not to spoil viewing such a picaresque film) and the concrete demonstration of the ephemeral nature of the freedom experienced during those vacation days. Because if these, as from the Latin term "vacuum" or void, can lead us to believe in the possibility of creating a new existential dimension free from usual worries, this is not the case for those who live with a limiting physical disability. One need only think of the necessity of taking care of daily personal hygiene, for which the presence of another person (in this case, the nurse) is inevitable.
But then, in addition to the character harshness of the three boys, one must consider that for the surrounding society, one is still "children of a lesser god" and not everyone is willing to accept you for who you are. This is why what the three protagonists experienced during the journey sounds a bit like an ephemeral life experience on the road (to use a once overused term) that confirms the limits to which the body binds you.
And here lies the bitter aftertaste of this comedy, which reminds us how all of us, disabled or not, are temporary in our brief happiness and fragile in the face of life's downturns. All this is expressed in frank, never pathetic tones, which make this film a useful contribution not to forget those who have not been as lucky in health as we have. And I close by returning to what was considered at the beginning of this review and asking: but should a film like this have remained stuck for ten years without being distributed? Was it really that inconvenient for the evaluative parameters of Italian distribution?
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