I’ll Be Going Now (1991) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The film takes place primarily in Rome and at a farmhouse in the countryside outside the city. The contrast between the urban setting, filled with social gatherings, carnival festivities, and busy apartment life, and the quiet rural retreat underscores Augusto's struggle to navigate between connection and isolation.

• rome
• countryside
• setting
• locations
• italy

Augusto Scrivani is a former bank manager who returns home after spending eighteen years in psychiatric treatment. Played by Vittorio Gassman in a melancholy performance, he is intelligent and lonely, yearning for family connection while struggling to adapt to a world that has moved on without him.

• augusto scrivani
• vittorio gassman
• protagonist
• mental illness

Carla is a divorced woman living with her lover Giorgio and his daughter Rosa. She hosts social gatherings and cares for Augusto upon his return, but her protective stance eventually becomes controlling, leading to conflict over what is best for the family.

• carla
• dominique sanda
• daughter-in-law
• caretaker

Rosa is a nine-year-old girl who forms a strong bond with her newly arrived grandfather Augusto. Despite facing bullying, she finds comfort in his gentle company, and their connection represents the possibility of healing through intergenerational connection.

• rosa
• valentina holtkamp
• grandfather
• granddaughter
• bond

The film explores aging and loneliness as Augusto returns after eighteen years in a psychiatric clinic to find a world that has changed. It also examines family bonds, the tension between care and control, and the idea of escape versus finding a true sense of belonging.

• themes
• aging
• loneliness
• family
• care
• control
• escape

The film probes how the line between caring for someone and controlling them becomes blurred. Carla's protective stance toward Augusto shifts toward a coercive threat to have him re-committed, raising questions about whether safety justifies overbearing control in family relationships.

• care
• control
• power dynamics
• family relationships
• boundaries

The household around Augusto, Carla, Giorgio, Rosa, and the memories of the past, reveals both warmth and fragility in kinship. Rosa's quick attachment to her grandfather contrasts with the adults' tensions and loyalties, questioning what family means when personal freedoms clash with familial duty.

• family
• bonds
• relationships
• loyalty
• conflict

The film is set in 1991, the year of its release. While an exact historical period is not specified, the early 1990s Italian setting provides the backdrop for a story about reintegration and social change.

• 1990s
• time period
• italy
• setting
• era

Alcide is Augusto's old roommate from the psychiatric clinic who now lives at a farmhouse outside the city with a prostitute. He re-enters Augusto's life as a tentative ally, offering a temporary sanctuary away from the household's scrutiny and providing an escape from the tensions at Carla's home.

• alcide
• elliott gould
• friend
• farhouse
• sanctuary

The film has a melancholy, somber tone that emphasizes the protagonist's fragile state and the quiet sadness of his eventual resignation to solitude. Despite the serious subject of mental illness and alienation, the presentation remains reflective rather than overwhelming, resulting in a bittersweet ending.

• tone
• melancholy
• bittersweet
• emotional
• mood