Handlung

Having recently been uprooted to Milan, Rocco and his four brothers each look for a new way in life when a prostitute comes between Rocco and his brother Simone.

Widow Rosaria moves to Milano from Lucania with four of her sons, one of whom is Rocco; the eldest son, Vincenzo, already lives in Milano. In the beginning, the family has a lot of problems, but everyone manages to find something to do. Simone is boxing, Rocco works in a dry cleaner's, and Ciro studies. Simone meets Nadia, a prostitute, and they have a stormy affair. Then after finishing his military service, Rocco begins a relationship with Nadia. A bitter feud explodes between the brothers--will it lead to murder?—Kornel Osvart <kornelo@alphanet.hu>

Covering several years, the story of the southern-Italian peasant Parondi family, and their traditions of a family-first mentality at any cost as fostered by the family matriarch, is told. The story has five segments in chronological order with each segment focusing on a different Parondi brother in order of age. Vincenzo's segment begins when their just-widowed mother Rosaria brings her four younger sons to Milan, where oldest Vincenzo has been living, so her sons can eke out a more promising future than what their unproductive piece of farmland could give. Their arrival disrupts Vincenzo's life, as being the eldest he's the one who's expected to figure out how they will survive without jobs or a place to live. Simone's segment describes how the change to big-city life affects him more than any of his brothers; he shows natural ability as a boxer, but despite some promising results, he doesn't cultivate this promise, perhaps because of self-doubt. He begins a relationship with a prostitute named Nadia, who entered the Parondis' life soon after their arrival in the city. Simone and Nadia's relationship ends without fanfare and partly due to Nadia's circumstances. Rocco's segment begins during his two-year stint in the military. He is the loyal, sensitive brother and reconnects with Nadia by chance. They fall in love, which makes Nadia truly care about what happens to her for the first time ever, but what will Simone think when he finds out? In Ciro's segment, this educated brother now works in the Alfa Romeo factory and proves to be the practical brother. As their family unit disintegrates, Ciro tries to hold it together. Rocco is now the family breadwinner and will go to any length to keep them together. And in teenage Luca's segment, questions are raised as to whether their lives would have been different if they had stayed on the family farm, and what the future holds for them in light of--or despite--what has happened to them since their arrival in Milan.—Huggo