1900

Alfredo's grandfather, the tyrannical patriarch of the Berlinghieri family, commits suicide because he can no longer maintain control over the estate and his declining authority. The weight of his oppressive rule, combined with his inability to adapt to changing social dynamics, drives him to end his life, leaving the estate to his weak son Giovanni.

Alfredo is portrayed as a weak, passive man who feels trapped between his aristocratic heritage and his moral conscience. Throughout the film, he lacks the courage to challenge the fascist foreman, paralyzed by fear and his complicit relationship with the old regime. His inaction allows Attila to operate with impunity for decades.

Earlier in the film, Alfredo's childhood resentment toward his family's deceit hints at his moral weakness and inability to act decisively.

Olmo is raised by his grandfather Leo Dalcò, the foreman who challenges landowner authority through nonviolent resistance, and is immersed in socialist ideology from childhood. After experiencing the brutalities of World War I and witnessing the oppression inflicted by Attila, Olmo becomes increasingly radicalized, eventually leading strikes and resistance against the oppressive conditions on the Berlinghieri estate.

Olmo's participation in labor strikes as a child under his grandfather's guidance establishes his lifelong commitment to socialist values.

Ada leaves Alfredo because she can no longer tolerate his passive complicity in the suffering of the workers. When Alfredo finally dismisses Attila, it is too late for Ada, who has lost faith in her husband's moral courage. Her departure represents Alfredo's personal loss as consequence for his years of inaction.

April 25, 1945 marks the Liberation of Italy from fascist rule. The film both begins and ends on this date, using it as a framework for the story. On this day, the peasants finally arrest Alfredo Berlinghieri and hold him accountable at a tribunal, representing the fall of the old aristocratic order and the reckoning for those who collaborated with fascist oppression.

Attila operates with impunity because he is protected by the fascist regime that rises to power in 1922. His sadistic brutality is sanctioned by the state, and local authorities turn a blind eye to his murders and thefts. Only with the collapse of fascism in April 1945 does the tide turn, allowing the workers to finally arrest him and bring him to justice.

The revolt is sparked by years of escalating cruelty under Attila's rule, combined with the broader context of World War II creating chaos. Led by Olmo, the villagers confront Attila directly, throwing manure at him and resisting his oppressive tactics. This marks a turning point where the workers no longer tolerate the暴力 and begin active physical resistance.

Anita, another socialist aligned with Olmo's beliefs, dies during childbirth while giving birth to their daughter, who is named Anita after her mother. This tragic event further solidifies Olmo's commitment to his political cause, as he raises his daughter as a single father while continuing his fight for workers' rights.

In the final scene set in 1976, Alfredo deliberately lies on the tracks as a train approaches, combining nostalgia for their childhood games with a dark, almost suicidal impulse. This symbolic act represents the unresolved class struggle, the eternal conflict between landowner and peasant that has defined their lives. It suggests Alfredo's willingness to be crushed by the forces of history rather than continue living in a world without the old order.

As children, Alfredo and Olmo played a game where they would lie on the railroad tracks, with Alfredo always moving first, establishing the dangerous play that echoes into their final moment.

Despite their class differences and years of conflict, Olmo intervenes to save Alfredo by arguing that class distinctions have become irrelevant following the fall of the fascist regime. Olmo's defense reflects the film's theme that personal friendships can transcend ideological divisions, and that the old social hierarchy has been dismantled by historical change.

Despite being born into vastly different social strata, Alfredo as the heir to the landowner family and Olmo as the grandson of a peasant foreman, the two form a genuine bond as children. Their friendship endures for over seven decades, surviving political upheaval, ideological conflict, and personal tragedy, though it is ultimately strained by the systemic oppression Alfredo's family represents.

Attila and Regina share a twisted, sadistic nature and attempt to escape together during the liberation of Italy in 1945. Regina is the woman caught trying to flee with Attila when the peasants prevent their escape with pitchforks. Their relationship represents the alignment of cruelty and complicity at the top of the oppressive hierarchy.