Sunflower

Giovanna and Antonio marry to delay his World War II deployment. Their union begins a brief period of happiness amid the chaos of war, described as twelve days of happiness. The act sets the stage for the couple's later schemes and sacrifices.

After their brief happiness, they attempt to postpone his deployment again by Antonio pretending to be crazy. The ruse buys them more time, allowing them to savor a few more days together before reality intrudes.

Antonio departs for the Eastern Front where the war rages on. Giovanna stays behind, hoping for news and clinging to the belief that love can endure the distance.

The war ends and Antonio does not return. He is listed as missing in action, leaving Giovanna to navigate grief and uncertainty.

Despite the odds, Giovanna remains convinced Antonio survived and heads to the Soviet Union to search for him. Her journey is driven by love and an unwavering hope that transcends the war's destruction.

In the Soviet countryside, Giovanna visits sunflower fields believed to mark fallen Italian soldiers and learns of the horrors where Italians were forced to dig their own mass graves. Her journey grows into a search for Antonio amid stories of tragedy and endurance.

Giovanna eventually finds Antonio, but he has begun a new life with a woman who saved his life, and they have a daughter together. The revelation shatters Giovanna's ideal of shared destinies while underscoring the costs of war.

Despite the discovery, Giovanna returns to Italy heartbroken and declines to disrupt Antonio's life. She chooses to safeguard his family's stability and her own dignity instead of forcing a reunion.

Years pass and Giovanna moves into her own apartment, works in a factory, and builds a life with a new partner, even birthing a baby boy. She continues to carry the memory of her first love while embracing a different future.

Antonio returns years later and asks Giovanna to come back with him to the Soviet Union. He explains how the war changed him and that he found safety with his new partner after years of hardship.

Giovanna refuses to leave Italy, unwilling to disrupt the lives of Antonio's daughter or her own newborn son. She chooses to protect their burgeoning families and to honor the vows she believed in before the war.

Antonio gives Giovanna the fur he had promised years earlier, a symbol of their long-cherished memory. Their eyes lock as his train pulls away from Italy, sealing their separation and the bittersweet end of their love.