Leonardo, a gentleman of the ‘700, lives with his old father in an ancient Venetian villa and wastes his life playing cards and getting drunk. One evening he attends a theatrical performance and is struck by the beauty of the prima donna Iris: he tries to seduce her, drunk and arrogant, but she rejects him with disgust. Shocked by this decisive refusal, Leonardo decides to follow the girl in his tour and conquer her by showing her his face always covered by various masks, which is made by a specialized artist. Iris falls in love with the man whose face she never sees, but Leonardo does not have the courage to show himself without a mask and flees after leaving her a letter of explanation. Back at his father’s villa, his change becomes evident: having abandoned debauchery and cards, he begins to keep company with his old father, takes care of the abandoned garden, even his face has become more beautiful, though melancholic. Finally Iris returns to look for him and when she finds him, in the same garden where she had rejected him, she is the first to kiss him.
Source
Genre: fantasy – romance
Cast
Helena Bonham Carter: Iris
Michael Maloney: Leonardo
Roberto Herlitzka: Elia
Feodor Chaliapin Jr: Leonardo’s father
Alberto Cracco: Viola
Luis Bacalov soundtrack
