Neapolitanische Geschwister (1978)

In Naples, the first city to succeed in freeing itself from Fascism, there is a squalid neighborhood near the port. From 1942 to 1972, the stories of the Cavioli and Pagano families reflect the tragedies of all the suffering people who live there. Maria Pagano, the wife of an unemployed, ineffectual man, gives birth to Vittoria and Massimo; she will die on the eve of an economic boom that, for Naples, will seem like a cruel irony. Meanwhile, Vittoria gets a job at a company, where she risks being sold as a “prostitute,” and leaves her job. After struggling to earn her diploma as a flight attendant, she has to look after her father and brother. Massimo, for his part, is drawn in by the demagogic words of Alessandro Simonetti, a Spanish exile, and joins the Communist Party. At first, the Party assigns him to clean its headquarters; later, it gives him nothing but words and more words. During the occupation, Valeria Cavioli had prostituted herself to U.S. servicemen in exchange for a bag of flour. She marries Simonetti and gives birth to poor Rosa, who dies in 1964 for lack of proper medical care. Driven mad by grief, Valeria shoots her husband Alessandro while he is giving a speech.