Petra Biondina Volpe
L'ultimo turno

LA RECENSIONE

A film with a strong civic impact, but also a work where the best side of people emerges: humanity.

Shot almost entirely inside a Swiss public hospital, it depicts the last work shift of a nurse who, alongside just one other colleague, has to manage an entire oncology ward.

The setting is all too familiar, unfortunately I believe both through direct or indirect personal experience of each of us, and thanks to the countless TV dramas that have focused on the subject for decades. Only, unlike the most popular TV series, where commanders/doctors with clever strategies win wars that seem already lost to everyone, here we are on the front lines with soldiers/nurses who face the daily reality—who fight and, at best, manage only to patch wounds or, if they’re lucky, delay the inevitable defeats. This is thanks to their great field experience, skill, and professionalism, but above all to a strong dose of humanity. This last “weapon” proves to be double-edged, because while on one hand it lets you face any situation with calm, empathy, and steady nerves (at least apparently), on the other hand it gets to you, marks you deeply inside, and never leaves you, following you to the end of your shift, all the way back home—though with the awareness that you've done everything you possibly could.

Performed by a superb Leonie Benesch, with a realistic performance that goes beyond mere acting (it seems as though she truly has been a nurse her whole life), with the camera never leaving her for a single moment as she weaves through the hospital corridors, in a continuum of dramatic tension and with only rare, brief moments of relief, the film stays perfectly balanced, never lapsing into easy sentimentality, but allowing only small flashes of strong emotion. Everything is experienced through the protagonist's eyes, her expressiveness, and her ever-attentive gestures, which only occasionally, in the most intense moments, betray some glimpses of emotion. Living one's job so intensely does not prevent mistakes, those brought on by continuous stress, mainly due to staff shortages. Mistakes that can have serious consequences, yet are part of the game (only those who do, make mistakes).

Not even the final nighttime tracking shot over the patients resting in their beds, accompanied by evocative music, is a concession to sentimentality, but rather the worthy conclusion of a work shift that is much more than just a profession.

At the end of the film, a caption informs us that by 2030 Switzerland is expected to lack 30,000 nurses, and the world 13,000,000. And watching this film makes it all too clear what the future may hold.