1943
Adriano, after having escaped death in Genoa during bombing raids, in which his wife lost her life, returns to his original birthplace, a village nestled among the Appenine mountains. He' s with his daughter, Elena, who is now 20 years old. The long journey ends in the reunion with his family, Innes and Dante, and friends left behind many years ago.
The cruel war, here, has yet to arrive and so he lives moments of happiness and serenity. People get married, they meet in barns for dancing (an old custom where participants wear wooden face masks) or in the fields where they sing the traditional songs of the May festival.
The tranquillity of these people from Cervarolo (RE) and Manchio (MO) is soon to be violently crushed as they become involved in the bloody civil war that will involve all of Italy. Unfortunately the war and the facist fury do not leave these small villages untouched. Between 18th and 20th March, 1944, Hermann Goering divides the community with the object of separating the rebels and the partisans. A Cervarolo the whole population are herded into a barn and told ,falsely, that they will be sent to work in deportation camps. 24 men are, instead, shot by the Nazis. The war has arrived in the valley and leaves a scar never to be forgotten.
During the assassinations at the other villages of Monchio, Savoniere, Costrignano and Susanna 131 civilians (men, women and children) lose their lives. The few villagers left alive try to regain a sense of their lost community.