Francesco has been away from Venice for 14 months: as he approaches his beloved city from the sea, we get a view of it from the lagoon.
Awaiting him however is a nasty surprise. In vain he knocks on the door of his family's residence, Palazzo Soranzo Van Axel (located in the Cannaregio district): no one lives there anymore because his father has gambled it away, together with the rest of the family fortune..
The architect of his downfall is Countess Von Wallenstein, who invites Francesco to play a dangerous of "Totum et nihil": if he wins, he'll get everything back, but if he loses, he himself will become the property of the Countess. The game is held at Palazzo Pisani Moretta. Francesco loses and makes a break of it.
And so begins a long pursuit, with Francesco initially seeking refuge with Lucrezia, one of his Venetian mistresses who lives in Palazzo Stern on the Grand Canal. Lucrezia sends him to her sister, Olivia, in Verona. A shot of Piazza dei Signori (or Piazza Dante), in the historic city centre, which has played a political, administrative and symbolic role since Medieval times, welcomes the protagonist into the city. From then on, Francesco is accompanied in his getaway by Olivia, a young noble girl looking to escape her unhappy marriage.
First the pair hides away at Villa Badoer, a XVI-century Venetian estate designed by Palladio and located in Fratta Polesine (RO). They also stop off at Virginia's home in Mozambano (MN).
In Mantua, and more specifically Piazza Sordello, Francesco engages in petty theft as a comedy is being staged, but is this time caught in the act and forced to once again go on the run.
To get away from his pursuers, young Francesco clambers over the walls of the Castle of Sirmione (BS) which is surrounded on all sides by Lake Garda. We see the swallow-tailed battlements so typical of buildings in this area and the dockyard. Then on horseback he enters the maze of Villa Pisani in Stra (VE), which is Villa Leonora in the film.
The closing scenes of the film were shot in France.
Francesco has been away from Venice for 14 months: as he approaches his beloved city from the sea, we get a view of it from the lagoon.
Awaiting him however is a nasty surprise. In vain he knocks on the door of his family's residence, Palazzo Soranzo Van Axel (located in the Cannaregio district): no one lives there anymore because his father has gambled it away, together with the rest of the family fortune..
The architect of his downfall is Countess Von Wallenstein, who invites Francesco to play a dangerous of "Totum et nihil": if he wins, he'll get everything back, but if he loses, he himself will become the property of the Countess. The game is held at Palazzo Pisani Moretta. Francesco loses and makes a break of it.
And so begins a long pursuit, with Francesco initially seeking refuge with Lucrezia, one of his Venetian mistresses who lives in Palazzo Stern on the Grand Canal. Lucrezia sends him to her sister, Olivia, in Verona. A shot of Piazza dei Signori (or Piazza Dante), in the historic city centre, which has played a political, administrative and symbolic role since Medieval times, welcomes the protagonist into the city. From then on, Francesco is accompanied in his getaway by Olivia, a young noble girl looking to escape her unhappy marriage.
First the pair hides away at Villa Badoer, a XVI-century Venetian estate designed by Palladio and located in Fratta Polesine (RO). They also stop off at Virginia's home in Mozambano (MN).
In Mantua, and more specifically Piazza Sordello, Francesco engages in petty theft as a comedy is being staged, but is this time caught in the act and forced to once again go on the run.
To get away from his pursuers, young Francesco clambers over the walls of the Castle of Sirmione (BS) which is surrounded on all sides by Lake Garda. We see the swallow-tailed battlements so typical of buildings in this area and the dockyard. Then on horseback he enters the maze of Villa Pisani in Stra (VE), which is Villa Leonora in the film.
The closing scenes of the film were shot in France.
Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica, Reteitalia
In the XVIII century, nobleman Francesco Sacredo returns to Venice after 14 months of exile only to find that his father has just gambled away his entire fortune to Countess Matilde Von Wallenstein. The Countess challenges Francesco to a game of 'Totum et nihil' (all or nothing): if she loses she will give everything back to Francesco, but if she wins, Francesco must give the Countess his soul.
