It is the year1943, in Serramezzana, a small town situated about one hundred kilometres away from Naples.
The town has been torn apart from bombings. The only family still insisting to live there, goes by the name of Valguarnera, whose ancient feudal heritage binds them to this town. Their wealth comes from their estates which are not lucrative. Eventhough the Valguarnera's high flown style is authentic, it is almost something to laugh about, comical.
The melancholy manifests itself through the oppositions. The past and the present represent the actual nucleus of the film: time provides no certainties. What the characters accomplish in a hypothetical present has may have taken place many years before...