Marco Messeri

Two mental patients with opposite personalities ditch their Tuscan hospital and embark on an unpredictable exploration of the real world.

The film tells the story of the Michelucci family, from the nineteen-seventies to the present day: the central character is the stunningly beautiful Anna, the lively, frivolous and sometimes embarrassing mother of Bruno and Valeria. Everything begins in the Summer of 1971, at the annual Summer beauty pageant held at Livorno’s most popular bathing establishment. Anna is unexpectedly crowned “Most Beautiful Mother”, unwittingly stirring the violent jealousy of her husband. From then on, chaos strikes the family and for Anna, Bruno and his sister Valeria, it is the start of an adventure that will only end thirty years later.

In the French countryside, circa the 17th-century, Serafina, Pulcinella and Isabella are three lusty, beautiful members of a travelling theatrical troupe, leaving in their wake a crop of broken hearts.

Clara and Diego, under the guidance of the psychiatrist of a day rehabilitation center for disturbed people who attend, decide to transform the treatment center into a restaurant, involving all their other companions.

At work, Mario Millio is the only male nurse not on strike. At home, his wife is more interested in calling the hot-line of a local TV-doctor. When Mario wins 15 million Lire in the lottery, he buys himself a new car and starts to live out his dreams in secret. All goes well until a criminal steals the car and Mario is blamed for the car thief's crimes

Elisa is only forty when an incurable disease takes her from her husband and their daughter. Before her heart stops, Elisa finds a way to stay close to her: a gift for every birthday up to her adult age, 18 gifts to try to accompany her child's growth year after year.

Michele is an MP for the Italian Communist Party who loses his memory in a car crash, though hardly anyone around him seems to notice. During a crucial water polo match on the eve of election day, he gradually begins to remember his past life, revealing a man whose personal and political identity crisis mirrors that of Italian communism itself.

In the Tuscan countryside at the end of the 19th century, Pietro, the shy son of a tyrannical landowner, falls in love with Ghisola, a peasant girl with no family. His father has her sent away. Years later, the two meet again: still in love with her, Pietro would like to marry her, but she has become the mistress of a married man.