A young officer of the Austro-Hungarian army, Emidio Orlich, of Dalmatian origin, decides in the winter of 1916 to desert in order to be transferred to Italy and fight with the Italians against Austria. Another young man, Franco Velich, returns in the summer of 1941 to the island where he was born, the same island where Emidio was born years before. He returned there as an Italian officer recovering from a wound suffered in North Africa. The island, which was in Yugoslavian territory, is now occupied by the Italian army, and Franco lives with discomfort this situation. He comes into conflict with Emidio’s old mother and granddaughter, whose story in the previous war is told to him by Simeone, a wise and disenchanted old man who looks at the current situation with detachment but little hope. As he learns about Emidio’s story, Franco feels his doubts and uncertainties of living the ambiguous situation of the occupier increase, and he doesn’t know how to behave in the face of the population’s rebellious actions. When Simeone and others are arrested for reticence and complicity, Franco feels the need for solidarity across borders.
Source
Genre: drama -historical
Cast
Raoul Bova: Emidio Orlich
Marco Leonardi: Franco Velich
Omero Antonutti: Simeone
Vesna Tominac: Melania
Claudia Pandolfi: Gabriella
Giancarlo Giannini: Von Zirkenitz
Luis Bacalov soundtrack
