Taking a line from a Fabrizio de Andrè song, "A Cimma-a", Silvio Soldini depicts the changes that have transformed Liguria. The five chapters ("Flowers", "Olives", "Fishing", "Seamen", "Steel mill") form a chronicle of the lives of five persons portrayed in striking pictures and memories of a simpler life, of days gone by, and of backbreaking work against a background of changes in social structure and land-use. After years of rampant modernization and industrialization, efforts are under way to restore the landscape and to conserve its scenic beauty.
