Keswick Film Club - Goodbye Solo

Synopsis

Bahrani’s latest humanist portrait adds to his reputation as one as the most distinctive and engaged young auteurs working in America today. On the lonely roads of North Carolina, two men forge an mprobable friendship that will change both of their lives forever. Solo is a Senegalese immigrant cab driver, an amiable, compassionate and inquisitive fellow who picks up William, a tough-faced, grumbling old-timer with a lifetime of regrets. Solo, understanding William's grim frame of mind only too well, decides to try to help him find a new lease of life. William is resistant but despite their differences, both men soon realize they need each other more than either is willing to admit: an unlikely but distinctive friendship which has to compete with Solo’s own family life…

FIPRESCI Prize, Venice Film Festival 2008