Checco emigrated 30 years ago to Monselice in the province of Padua, where he works as a waiter, but his passion for high finance leads him to leave his job to become a vacuum cleaner salesman. Things go well for a while, but the crisis soon comes knocking. In spite of everything, Checco promises his son Nicolò the holiday of his dreams if he gets top marks in everything at school, which he manages to do with flying colours. The school attended by the boy is actually the Faculty of Literature and Philosophy of the University of Padua in Palazzo Liviano, named after Roman historian Tito Livio, who was born in Padua. The promise leads Checco and Nicolò on a trip across the length and breadth of Italy. Their first stop is Molise, where Checco’s relatives live, more specifically his aunt Ritella (the Eutana-Zia), who reveals herself to be extremely tight-fisted straight away, and lives in a farmhouse in Biferno Valley, near Casacalenda (CB), a town with approximately 2,100 inhabitants. Filming in Molise took place in the minute town of Provvidenti (which has just over 100 inhabitants), in the province of Campobasso and in Guardialfiera, Limosano, Montecilfone, Palata, and Petrella Tifernina.
Nicolò, who is left unsatisfied and disappointed, makes his father take him to Piombino, where he’s supposed to get on a ferry headed to Elba Island to spend the holidays with the family of a colleague of his mother’s, but after saying goodbye to his father, he comes back and decides to go with him on his journey. Then comes Checco and Nicolò’s fortuitous encounter with Zoe and her son Lorenzo, which changes the fate of the holiday. Zoe has a villa in Orbetello. A few scenes later the four protagonists are at the Abbey of Saint Galgano, an ancient open-air church located in Chiusdino (SI) which is famous for its ‘sword in the stone’, which Saint Galgano is said to have planted in the earth to turn it into a cross on the day of his transformation. It is here that Zoe’s former partner is shooting a film.
The holiday continues in Liguria at Villa Durazzo, where Zoe’s mother is staying, an historic home in Santa Margherita Ligure in the middle of a vast park, which dates back to 1600 and is full of frescoes and glass items from Murano. Here a chain of events starts that makes Nicolò’s holiday unforgettable: a charity ball, a economics debate in Portofino, yacht trips, golf games, horseback rides, and much more.
Checco emigrated 30 years ago to Monselice in the province of Padua, where he works as a waiter, but his passion for high finance leads him to leave his job to become a vacuum cleaner salesman. Things go well for a while, but the crisis soon comes knocking. In spite of everything, Checco promises his son Nicolò the holiday of his dreams if he gets top marks in everything at school, which he manages to do with flying colours. The school attended by the boy is actually the Faculty of Literature and Philosophy of the University of Padua in Palazzo Liviano, named after Roman historian Tito Livio, who was born in Padua. The promise leads Checco and Nicolò on a trip across the length and breadth of Italy. Their first stop is Molise, where Checco’s relatives live, more specifically his aunt Ritella (the Eutana-Zia), who reveals herself to be extremely tight-fisted straight away, and lives in a farmhouse in Biferno Valley, near Casacalenda (CB), a town with approximately 2,100 inhabitants. Filming in Molise took place in the minute town of Provvidenti (which has just over 100 inhabitants), in the province of Campobasso and in Guardialfiera, Limosano, Montecilfone, Palata, and Petrella Tifernina.
Nicolò, who is left unsatisfied and disappointed, makes his father take him to Piombino, where he’s supposed to get on a ferry headed to Elba Island to spend the holidays with the family of a colleague of his mother’s, but after saying goodbye to his father, he comes back and decides to go with him on his journey. Then comes Checco and Nicolò’s fortuitous encounter with Zoe and her son Lorenzo, which changes the fate of the holiday. Zoe has a villa in Orbetello. A few scenes later the four protagonists are at the Abbey of Saint Galgano, an ancient open-air church located in Chiusdino (SI) which is famous for its ‘sword in the stone’, which Saint Galgano is said to have planted in the earth to turn it into a cross on the day of his transformation. It is here that Zoe’s former partner is shooting a film.
The holiday continues in Liguria at Villa Durazzo, where Zoe’s mother is staying, an historic home in Santa Margherita Ligure in the middle of a vast park, which dates back to 1600 and is full of frescoes and glass items from Murano. Here a chain of events starts that makes Nicolò’s holiday unforgettable: a charity ball, a economics debate in Portofino, yacht trips, golf games, horseback rides, and much more.
Copyright: Thomas Tozzi
Checco Zalone - Near Casacalenda (CB)
Copyright: Salvatore Di Lalla
Checco Zalone, Robert Dancs - Limosano (CB)
Copyright: Thomas Tozzi
Checco Zalone - Provvidenti (CB)
Copyright: Thomas Tozzi
Night set - Valle del Biferno, near Casacalenda (CB)
Copyright: Thomas Tozzi
Matilde Caterina, Checco Zalone, Gennaro Nunziante - audition Aunt Ritella - Sede MoliseCinema Film Festival, Casacalenda (CB)
36-year-old Checco leaves his stable job as a waiter to sell vacuum cleaners and promises his son, little Nicolò, the holiday of his dreams if he gets top marks in everything at school, but hasn’t factored in the crisis.
