SYNOPSIS
An archeologist and a weapons designer – who, in a prior life, knew each other as a filmmaker and a psychoanalyst – meet at an archeological excavation site in the Negev Desert and begin discussing love and war; a conversation they continue in the Israeli city of Be¡¯er Sheva. The film then proceeds with changing actors in changing roles; a round dance that takes us to the cities of Athens, Berlin, Hong Kong and São Paulo.
REVIEW
The Last City, a sequel to Streetscape (Dialogue), continues and expands upon the conversations from its predecessor. John Erdman and Jonathan Perel, who previously portrayed a filmmaker and a psychoanalyst, now embody an archaeologist and a weapons designer. Their journey spans multiple global cities: from an Israeli city through Athens, Berlin, Hong Kong, and São Paulo. As the settings shift, so do the characters, introducing a diverse cast including an aging artist, a mother of sons in clergy and law enforcement, a Chinese woman, a Japanese woman, a curator, and a cosmologist. Each city reflects and contrasts with the next, mirroring the way characters echo and diverge from one another. The film weaves complex conversations touching on war, taboos, family, and guilt, creating intricate connections between characters and their urban environments. It unfolds like an experimental absurdist drama, where meaning is repeatedly grasped and lost, all while building a vivid mental landscape of characters, dialogues, and cityscapes. Perhaps The Last City serves as a metaphor for the unique destination each of us reaches at the conclusion of our own personal odyssey. It may represent that final place we all arrive at, each in our own distinct way, at the end of our individual journeys through life's myriad experiences and landscapes.