Scusate il Ritardo (1983)

Naples. Vincenzo is an unemployed young man whose life is devoid of stimulation, governed by laziness, boredom, and hypochondria. Unlike his mother, Assunta, who is busy with the household chores that constantly annoy him; his sister, Patrizia, who is married and has a daughter to support; and his brother, Alfredo, an actor who is always away performing in his theatrical productions, Vincenzo avoids every kind of task or responsibility, even on a human level. This is especially apparent in his dealings with his friend Tonino, who turns to him for a shoulder to cry on after his girlfriend leaves him, only to receive banal, indecisive replies and apparent sympathy that barely conceals Vincenzo’s indifference. A chance for a turning point in Vincenzo’s life may come with his meeting Anna, an old school friend of Patrizia’s, whom he meets at the funeral of one of their relatives. After a timid first approach, the two begin a relationship, though she seems to throw herself into it more wholeheartedly, longing for love and tenderness after a romance that ended badly. Vincenzo, by contrast, does not seem to experience the relationship with the same passionate involvement as his girlfriend, precisely because he has not shed his chronic faults. Anna finds him irritable and apathetic in a variety of situations, especially when Tonino, increasingly depressed, can barely conceal his suicidal intentions: late one evening, he goes to a railway station and stands in the rain, thinking about throwing himself in front of a train, with a switchblade in his pocket, no less. Anna begins to find Vincenzo’s lack of attention and consideration toward her unbearable. She feels misunderstood and sees no sense of closeness between them. Matters come to a head one Sunday afternoon when, as the two are in bed, he happens to turn on the radio and, upon hearing the news that Cesena has taken a spectacular lead over Napoli, seems more interested in his favorite team than in the doubts Anna is voicing about their relationship. The young woman decides to leave him and to leave Naples as well, returning to work in Perugia, which she had left to embrace her parents again. Realizing for the first time what he is truly about to lose, Vincenzo tries to prevent the relationship from ending, so Anna suggests they take a month to think things over. While he falls into despair, Tonino is miraculously cheered up by finding a new girlfriend. Showing much more humanity than his friend had shown in the past, Tonino is the one who persuades Anna to return to Vincenzo, who, although—as usual—he does so without any real conviction, asks Anna to stay in his life.