At the end of the 19th century, in a small village in the Apennines, in a house lost in the middle of a valley, live Alessandro and Pietro, two very different but very close brothers. The two children, aged eleven and thirteen, carefree and full of energy, live like two wild animals, always getting into trouble and spending their days racing carts, diving into the river, and stealing from the cellar. When their mother dies, their father sells his last possessions to buy his sons two beautiful, untamed foals, Baio and Sauro. As adults, while Alessandro feels a growing desire to cross the mountains and go far away, Pietro wants to become a breeder and live with Veronica, the girl he loves.
Cinematography
Mist-soaked Apennines that swallow characters whole.
Acting
Marchioni's restless silence; Alhaique's rooted stillness.
Director
Michele Rho
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rho shot entirely in the remote Oltrepò Pavese, using local non-actors for village scenes—authenticity that borders on ethnography.
The final shot lingers on an empty mountain road; production ran out of funds for the planned ending, so what you see is accidental poetry.
IT
