Il cielo sbagliato

Mantua, 1918. On Armistice Day, two girls are born, just a few hours apart. Irene is the youngest of an old aristocratic family from the city. Dora seems destined to a life of poverty, but her unequalled beauty will give her access to a world she could never have imagined within her reach.

A powerful historical fresco about the desire for emancipation and compensation.

Mantua, 1918. On Armistice Day, two girls are born within a few hours of each other. Irene is the youngest child of the Cavriani counts, an old aristocratic family from the city. Dora is orphaned at birth, because her mother dies during labour and her father, a soldier who’s gone missing, will never come back home. The little girl lives with her grandmother in a run-down hut and leads a life of poverty and abuse until the age of seven. Every Sunday, the two girls meet on the parvis of the church of Sant’Andrea: one begs, the other gives her handouts. The years go by and as Fascism turns into a regime, two lives that seemed fated always to be divided by an insurmountable class difference meet again. Destiny, that leads Dora into the middle-class home of the Benedini family, where she is welcomed and given an education, has also bestowed on her large blue eyes and the body of a film star who makes heads turn. Among her admirers, there is the shy Eugenio, the son of the very wealthy Arrivabene family, as well as Irene’s brother-in-law. Defying the hostility of the families, Dora secretly becomes engaged to Eugenio, but the high society that unfolds before her has many surprises in store for her.

Set against the background of significant historical events, caught up in a whirl of beautiful clothes, parties and intrigue, Dora must learn to protect the peace of mind she’s struggled to achieve and, above all, obtain something she doesn’t yet have.