Maura Delpero’s exquisite second feature, told in four chapters – one for each season – is set in the titular village in the Italian Alps in 1944, as World War II grinds to a halt. Pietro (Giuseppe De Domenico), a young Sicilian soldier, has carried his injured friend Attilio all the way back to his mountain home. Hailed as a hero and much gossiped about on account of his exotic Sicilian heritage, Pietro is furnished with the best the village can provide. He catches the eye of Lucia (Martina Scrinzi), the eldest daughter of Cesare (Tommaso Ragno), the stern village schoolteacher, and soon the two are gently flirting and falling in love. This seemingly simple pairing of two young hearts precipitates a sweeping series of events that shakes the village and a small town in Sicily, uncovering age-old misogyny and intolerance.

Notes by David O’Mahony.