In 1970s Rome, amid the Years of Lead, three brothers from Rieti move to the capital to chase very different dreams. Toni, an aspiring painter and artist, quickly makes a name for himself by sketching portraits for curious female tourists in the heart of the city. Don Vittorio, newly ordained as a priest in the Curia, brings a different sense of duty to the family, while Fabione, short for Fabione, leans toward the left with a fierce belief in radical change. The trio’s arrival sets off a chain of choices that pull them into Rome’s underworld of art forgery, organized crime, and political extremism.
Toni’s talent soon catches the attention of Donata, an art gallery owner who recognizes more than skill in his brushstrokes. After a chance meeting at a club, she becomes intrigued by his charisma and ambition. In his cramped, shabby studio, Toni creates a perfect copy of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s self-portrait, a discovery that sparks Donata’s fascination. She convinces him to replicate Amedeo Modigliani’s Portrait of Paulette Jourdain and sell the piece, a deal that brings in eight million lire and deepens his dual life as forger and artist. The glamour of success comes with a darker cost, as Toni must balance the demands of a clandestine world with the mounting pressure of Donata’s growing interest and the ethical weight of his deception.
Balbo, the leader of a shadowy neo-fascist gang in Rome inspired by the Banda della Magliana, notices Toni’s gift for illusion and quickly sees a way to leverage it. He offers Toni a luxurious central studio and access to powerful connections in exchange for forged documents and other favors. One of the first tasks is to forge a passport for a man named Sansiro, a job that cements Toni’s uneasy alliance with the Banda. The arrangement deepens when Sansiro repays the favor, drawing Toni further into a web of crime and influence. At the same time, Toni’s star rises in other circles, including collaboration with Zù Pippo, a Sicilian mafioso who acts as a protector and go-between with Cosa Nostra. Zù Pippo admires Toni’s art and assigns him ambitious projects, such as recreating Jacques-Louis David’s Bonaparte Crossing the Great St. Bernard Pass, a gift that strengthens Toni’s bond with the criminal world even as he pursues his own artistic ambitions. Francesco La Mantia appears in the story in his role as Er Pilota, a figure tied into the broader network of power surrounding Toni.
Toni’s ascent is tempered by a new and looming threat: a mysterious figure known as the Tailor, a member of the secret service who asks Toni to forge a fake Red Brigades document—Communiqué No. 7—that would signal to anyone who looked that Aldo Moro had been found and could be held hostage. The demand is a stark reminder that the life Toni is chasing is not only illegal but deadly. The pressure intensifies as the Tailor implies catastrophic consequences for Toni’s loved ones should he refuse. The situation is complicated by Donata’s growing awareness of Toni’s double life and his dangerous entanglements, including the illicit affairs that threaten their fragile alliance. Even as Toni tries to shield those around him, the long reach of the Tailor’s threat becomes impossible to ignore.
As the crisis escalates, the political theater surrounding Aldo Moro’s kidnapping deepens Toni’s moral conflict. Don Vittorio, feeling outmatched by the powerful networks around him, uses Curia funds to help the community while Fabione goes into hiding, seeking a false passport to escape. The Red Brigades’ violent actions, including Moro’s murder, ripple through the lives of everyone involved. Donata leaves Toni, exhausted by the betrayals and the weight of his crimes. The balance of trust shifts again when Balbo is killed in a car accident after Tailor’s timing and influence become dangerously clear. The danger to Toni’s world grows as Tailor’s men close in, breaking into his home and injuring his hands to halt his forged work.
Amid the chaos, Toni attempts to reconcile with his brothers and strikes a fragile peace with the violence surrounding them. Don Vittorio’s efforts to do right by the vulnerable contrast with the thieves’ cunning, while Fabione remains a fugitive, trying to survive the police dragnet. Toni and Donata reunite briefly when she reveals she’s pregnant, hinting at a quieter future that might still be possible beyond the current rupture. The will Toni hides in an abandoned warehouse, and his plan to flee Rome with Donata becomes a last-ditch bid for safety against continued threats.
In a final, high-stakes twist, the Tailor demands Moro’s memoir as a bargaining chip. Toni refuses to reveal it until he is certain that he and Donata are secure. The Tailor’s hold tightens when Sansiro, the tailman he trusts, forces Toni to confront an impossible choice: produce a body for the Tailor to prove his loyalty or face certain death that very night. Toni’s desperation reaches a breaking point as he makes a decision that costs him dearly. He decides to sacrifice Don Vittorio by keeping his brother’s life in danger because of their shared resemblance, a devastating moment that seals their fates. The pair escape in a taxi, but their victory is hollow, leaving them to question whether the price they paid was worth the life they hoped to claim.
The narrative lingers on the consequences of ambition, loyalty, and the murky ethics of forgery in a city where art, crime, and politics collide. As Toni and Donata ride away from Rome, the question remains: can art ever be separated from the consequences of deception, especially when the echoes of Aldo Moro’s era and the shadowy Tailor’s demands continue to haunt every choice they make?
Note: Crocca, Balbo’s associate, is portrayed by Michael Schermi, and Er Pilota is portrayed by Francesco La Mantia, while Giornalista is portrayed by Carlo Tozzi. Michael Schermi Francesco La Mantia Carlo Tozzi
