Uomo d'acqua dolce (1997)

Antonio is an elementary schoolteacher. One day, after returning home to his pregnant wife Beatrice, he goes to the supermarket to buy a jar of small mushrooms to satisfy his wife’s craving. As he is about to step onto the escalator, a man accidentally drops a 10-kilogram bag of sugar onto Antonio’s head. Antonio faints, and when he comes to, he has completely lost his memory; he then begins wandering aimlessly around the city. Tired of waiting for him, his wife starts a new life with Tonina, the daughter she had with Antonio, and an opera singer named Goffredo. Five years later, Antonio returns home as if nothing had happened, because he has no memory of anything he did after the accident. But he discovers he is no longer welcome: Beatrice is convinced that he left of his own free will, and so she throws him out. Since Beatrice no longer wants to see him, Antonio tries to visit his friend Patrizio, but discovers that Patrizio has gone from being a generous elementary schoolteacher to being rich and insensitive, so he gives up on renewing their friendship. After Antonio’s endless attempts to return home, Beatrice gives in and lets him stay in a makeshift guest room, despite Goffredo’s objections. Antonio tries to build a relationship with the daughter he never saw being born, who seems to find her father very likable. Goffredo tries to find out whether Antonio just wants money from him in exchange for leaving for good, but that is not the case. Tired and fed up, Goffredo tries to introduce Antonio to his colleague Patrizia, but although she seems receptive to him, Antonio is not interested. As the days go by, Goffredo grows increasingly intolerant of having his partner’s ex-husband in the house. After numerous arguments with Beatrice, Goffredo realizes that she is still attached to Antonio, and that little Tonina prefers her father too. Devastated, he decides to leave, saying that he has wasted five years of his life on someone who replaced him as soon as the man who came before him returned. Beatrice is upset and takes it out on Antonio, taking her daughter with her into the bedroom, while Antonio stays outside the door talking for hours to no avail. The next morning, Beatrice seems calmer, as does her daughter, but Antonio has convinced himself that neither of them wants him there anymore. So he sets off on foot once again, while the two remain silent. At the end, Beatrice reassures her daughter: Antonio will always come back to them. And indeed, after walking a long way, Antonio stops and, turning around, starts running back to Beatrice and Tonina.