Piccolo mondo antico

Yet another film about the Italian Risorgimento, a subject which I've always found fascinating given that I studied Italian history in my childhood! Despite the meticulous period detail of the production, the film's tone is an intimate one and, apart from the class struggle manifest in the narrative, is not overtly political either.

The acting by the two leads - Alida Valli and Massimo Serrato - is fine (the former in particular when, towards the end, she almost goes mad with grief over her little daughter's tragic death), but so is the supporting cast which includes such stereotypes as the jovial but perennially hungry chaplain and the harridan aristocratic matriarch, clinging to a fading way of life, who stands in the way of the young couple's happiness. However, some of the characters speak in a heavy dialect which - even to one who is fluent in the language as I am - is practically impossible to decipher!