Genre: Black Comedy

Language: Italian with English Subtitles

Director: Davide Marengo

Cast: Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Valerio Mastandrea, Ennio Fantastichini, Ivan Franek

Released: 2007

Duration: 105 Minutes

Rating: M contains violence and offensive language

Distribution: Palace Films

Leila (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) is a girl with no roots, who lives off her wits and small fraud. She is a seductive loner, fleeing from feelings that might make her vulnerable, while constantly battling for survival.

Franz (Valerio Mastandrea) is a profound thinker, but entirely passive. He has a degree in philosophy but works as a bus driver, locked into a sleepy life in bars with old friends. The only time his feelings surface is at the poker table, where he loses so much that Titti, to whom he owes E12,000, stalks him.

The mysterious path of destiny sets Leila and Franz in the middle of a ruthless battle for a microchip desired by two factions close to the secret services that could ruin an extremely powerful man. When busy with one of her small robberies, without noticing, Leila steals the microchip and finds herself pursued by the two groups. She escapes death quite by chance and barefoot and penniless with nowhere to go she finds her self on a night bus asking the driver for help; the driver is Franz. He thought he was having a bad day, but he hadn’t experienced anything yet!

Simultaneously a noir and a romantic comedy, an action film and a thriller with moments of pulp, ‘Night Bus’ is Davide Marengo's first feature film. Loosely based on the novel by Giampiero Rigosi, it is a truly brilliant mix of genres "all'italiana".

The beautiful Giovanna Mezzogiorno (Last kiss, Facing windows) is undoubtedly the soul of the picture, switching identities and stories.

Winner 2007 David Di Donatello: Best Original Song