The Italian Tiziano Terzani (Bruno Ganz), long-time Spiegel magazine Asia correspondent and renowned author, invites his son Folco (Elio Germano) to his retreat, a small mountain village northwest of Florence. It turns into no ordinary visit: Tiziano is seriously ill with cancer and wants to tell his son the story of his life in the time before his death.
For three long monthsTiziano and Folco will talk every day, reflecting on their own lives, discussing society, modern times, young people and the world. But death is omnipresent and thus a central theme of the film. With an impressive lightness Tiziano, his son and Tiziano's wife (Erika Pluhar) meet the nearing end without quarrelling or complaining. Tiziano labels death a friend, as "the one new thing that can still happen to me." An unusual story about the relationship between father and son, the fascinating life of Tiziano Terzani and, above all, bidding farewell.