This documentary about the life of Vittorio De Sica, Italian actor and film director, is narrated by Marco Paolini. We begin during the occupation by the Nazis. Vittorio is in Rome shooting a film.

Vittorio De Sica did different kinds of movies, both as an actor, and a director, and had great success, although critics appreciated his comedies more than his serious movies. Whatever kind of film he was directing, he laughed and cried along with the actors. They loved him.

When the Americans bombed Rome in 1943, Maria was shooting a film in the San Lorenzo area, right where the freight yards were, the target of the bombing. Vittorio, on the other side of town, rushed to the site. Life would soon become extremely complicated and dangerous for those in the film industry.

Vittorio De Sica, along with other filmmakers and actors, does not want to be transferred to Venice, as has been mandated by the State. There, he would have to shoot propaganda movies for the Fascists. Luckily a Catholic film company wants to make a movie about a train of sick and deformed people on their way to seek miracles at the shrine of Our Lady of Loreto, a popular pilgrimage destination in the Marches region. The kind of train that carries pilgrims is called un treno bianco (a white train).

Our narrator describes what it was like working on the set of La porta del cielo (the Gates of Heaven): the extras, the dangers, the boredom, and the strategies for keeping the cast and crew safe. He also explains how they reconstructed the railway carriages that are featured so prominently in the film.

To recreate the environment of the San Loreto church, the Basilica of St Paul's Outside the Walls was used for the final scene of the film. The crew was accustomed to working in a non-religious setting where they could do as they liked, so it was a full-time job trying to keep their bad habits (such as smoking) in check so they wouldn't get kicked out by their hosts.

During the filming of Heaven's Gate, there were some dicey moments where De Sica had to deal with the German troops and needed all his wits about him. At the same time his crew was cooped up in the basilica and didn't always behave as they should — in fact, tutt'altro (anything but). The narrator also mentions an anecdotal story Fellini told about his experience with the Germans.

Actors, including Alberto Sordi, who were performing at the Quattro Fontane (four fountains) theater on the fateful day of 23 March 1944 are in danger of being caught by the Germans. During the filming of his movie, De Sica leaves the safety of the basilica just once and is caught and questioned by a Nazi General about why the film is taking so long to be shot.

The general hands De Sica a letter from Goebbels himself but since De Sica can't read German, it is translated for him ad alta voce (out loud). It's an invitation to Venice, which De Sica does not want to accept.

Vittorio De Sica put himself on the line in order to save his cast and crew, and the film he was making. This final segment describes how he managed to complete La porta del cielo (The Gates of Heaven). The song we hear at the end of this documentary is very famous and was sung by Vittorio De Sica himself for the movie Gli uomini, che mascalzoni... in which he acted. Listen to the entire song here.

The French government is privileged to have two of Rome's most beautiful properties: Palazzo Farnese, which they rent for a nominal fee and use as their embassy, and Villa Medici, which is the home of the French Academy, and was procured by Napoleon. The narrator speaks of how the land on which Villa Medici was built was highly appreciated by the ancient Romans.

The segment focuses on the reasons behind the founding of the French Academy by Louis XIV

A tour of Villa Medici's reception and private rooms. Ferdinando de' Medici hired the architect and sculptor Bartolomeo Ammannati to expand the villa, as well as other renowned Florentines artists to create fresco cycles exalting his life. We catch a glimpse of his frescoed south-facing apartment, which would have been used in the colder months, while the north-side suite was for warmer periods.

We get a look at the plaster casts of Roman and Greek statues in the French Academy's storage rooms, sculptures such as the Venus de Milo. Fellows have made use of these casts to draw inspiration for their own works.

The segment focuses on Messalina, wife of the Emperor Claudius, who owned a villa on the site of Villa Medici. We catch a glimpse of tunnels and rooms beneath the villa, which were used by Ferdinando de' Medici to imprison Asian slaves when they weren't at work on a garden meant to evoke Mount Parnassus.

We visit the French Academy's gallery devoted to plaster casts of antique sculptures and the large park, which was once used by Ferdinando de' Medici for hunting.

The segment concentrates on two richly frescoed rooms that are set apart from the villa. Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici used these secluded rooms for trysts.

Éric de Chassey, Director of the French Academy, details the mission of the institution.

Pupia.Tv – Vibo Valentia [Calabria] – Mass evacuation in Maierato, a town of 2300 inhabitants in the province of Vibo Valentia, where on Monday 15th of February 2010 an entire mountain ridge collapsed, creating a landslide close to the town’s center, putting houses at risk.

Giuliano Montaldo tells about how he got his start, from being a ham actor in Genoa to becoming an assistant to film director Carlo Lizzani, to making his first movie.

Giuliano tells about meeting Vera for the first time, and then he and Vera take turns telling about how their relationship developed.

Vera talks about her parents and how they met and fell in love. Her mother was a stage actress and her father a military commander.

Vera's daughter was a teenager when Giuliano began courting her mother. Giuliano tells some stories about World War II and how crazy things were.

Giuliano talks about his beginnings as a director. Vera threatened to leave him when he thought he might accept certain jobs.