Synopsis:

Based on the famous early-twentieth century Italian novel, Piccolo Mondo Antico, di Antonio Fogazzaro, this story of two young lovers is set in Lombardy in the mid-nineteenth century and takes place immediately after the unsuccessful revolution that in 1848 spread through Italy and other European countries. At that time, part of northern Italy was ruled by Austria which harshly repressed the uprising.The young lovers, Franco, an aristocrat who has betrayed the nobility by embracing liberal ideas, and Luisa, a girl of humble origins, are also victims of that repression. Franco’s grandmother, Marchesa Orsola, a fervent Austrian sympathizer who raised him after he was oraphaned as a little boy, is obsessed against their relationship. The two lovers leave Lombardy to escape from her, and set up a house together. But they have underestimated the old aristocrat, who is so bent on ruining their plans that she even uses her influential contacts in Austria to set the imperial political police on their tail years later.Always the young liberal idealist, Franco sees escape as the only solution, even if this means that he will have to face family tragedies, and he risks losing the most important thing in his life: Luisa’s love.