The Last Victory

In The Last Victory, Dutch documentarian John Appel fashions an unusually compelling feature-length film out of an Italian sporting event that lasts barely a minute and a half, taking viewers behind the scenes of the Palio, an annual bareback horse race staged in the streets of the ancient city of Siena, Italy. Since the Middle Ages, each district in the city has participated, picking its own jockey to ride horses that are chosen in a lottery. Appel focuses his cameras here on the Civetta district, which hasn't won the race in nearly a quarter-century. But this year could be different: Civetta landed a particularly praised horse in the drawing, and the community bristles with excitement at the prospect of taking the prize once more. You wouldn't necessarily think that people would get so worked up over an 80-second event, but Appel shows us how seriously the townspeople take their apparent good fortune. The race itself is somewhat anti-climactic (and not just because the filmmakers didn't have enough cameras to properly capture it), but The Last Victory is appealing for other reasons, not the least of which is its eye-popping photography of one of the most beautiful areas on earth—the Tuscan countryside. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (E. Hulse)