The Gold Rimmed Glasses

The Gold Rimmed Glasses

Year: 1987

Runtime: 110 mins

Language: Italian

Director: Giuliano Montaldo

Drama

A Jewish couple and a homosexual doctor fall to prejudice and scandal in 1938 Italy.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – The Gold Rimmed Glasses (1987)

Explore the full timeline and setting of The Gold Rimmed Glasses (1987). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

1938

Italy under Mussolini's fascist regime tightens antisemitic measures in the late 1930s. Jewish students, including Davide, are expelled from university, signaling the climate of fear. Nora's decision to convert and marry a fascist suitor illustrates how personal lives are overridden by political survival. The era's moral climate corrodes friendships, reputations, and futures.

Location

Ferrara, Italy, Po River

Set in Ferrara during 1938, the city frames the social drama under Mussolini's fascist regime. The Po River and the nearby Adriatic coast provide a moody backdrop to the film's events. The Ferrara bourgeois circle and its hypocrisy are tested as Jewish families face increasing persecution. The setting grounds a tragedy born from love, ambition, and oppression.

🏛️ Historical Ferrara setting 🗺️ Italian 1930s city 🏞️ Po River landscape

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 13:26

Main Characters – The Gold Rimmed Glasses (1987)

Meet the key characters of The Gold Rimmed Glasses (1987), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Nora Treves (Valeria Golino)

Nora is the last member of the Treves family, poised between affection for Davide and the demands of a changing society. She inherits her father's business, and her warmth is matched with a sharp sense of self-preservation. As antisemitic measures tighten, her love for Davide is tested by social expectations, culminating in marriage to a fascist suitor and conversion to Catholicism. Her fate illustrates the painful trade-off between loyalty, love, and survival in Mussolini's Italy.

❤️ Romance 🧭 Identity 🛡️ Survival

David Lattes (Rupert Everett)

David Lattes is a Jewish literature student from Bologna who dreams of becoming a writer. He is in love with Nora and shares her concerns about the position of Jews in Ferrara's society. His life is disrupted by the regime's policies, including expulsions from university. He endures heartbreak as Nora chooses another path, and he later becomes a well-known writer.

❤️ Romance 🧭 Identity ✍️ Writer

Dr. Athos Fadigati (Philippe Noiret)

Dr Athos Fadigati is a middle-aged otolaryngologist with a prosperous pediatric practice and a place in Ferrara's bourgeois society. He is cultured, kind, and becomes entangled in town gossip and power plays, including a rumor about his sexuality. After a scandal, his reputation and livelihood collapse, and he is cast out. He befriends a street dog, but is ultimately abandoned and walks toward the river Po in despair.

🩺 Doctor 💔 Fall 🏛️ Bourgeois Life

Signora Lavezzoli (Stefania Sandrelli)

Signora Lavezzoli is an influential but meddlesome member of Ferrara's society who embodies the gossip-hungry hypocrisy of the bourgeois elite. Her malicious gossip accelerates the downfall of Fadigati and destabilizes the same circles that trust her. She wields social power to keep the status quo, regardless of personal consequences.

🎭 Gossip 🗝️ Influence

Eraldo (Nicola Farron)

Eraldo comes from a humbler background and is an amateur boxer who befriends the doctor only to exploit him. He embodies opportunistic youth and class tensions, contributing to the scandal that destroys Fadigati. His actions reveal the volatility of loyalties and the moral compromises driven by social climbing.

💪 Youthful swagger 🗝️ Betrayal 🏷️ Class Tension

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 13:26

Major Themes – The Gold Rimmed Glasses (1987)

Explore the central themes of The Gold Rimmed Glasses (1987), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

❤️ Love and Survival

Love blossoms under constant scrutiny as Nora and Davide's relationship endures despite antisemitic policy. The couple's romance is continually threatened by social expectations and political danger. Nora's shift toward safety and marriage to a fascist suitor reveals how affection can be sacrificed to survival. The film uses intimate moments to critique a society that values conformity over happiness.

🎭 Social Masks

Ferrara's bourgeois society wears a mask of propriety that conceals envy, gossip, and manipulation. Signora Lavezzoli's meddling and Eraldo's opportunism amplify a scandal that destroys Fadigati's standing. Reputation and appearances govern actions more than compassion or truth. The climate of fear intensifies the cost of maintaining appearances.

🕯️ Persecution and Identity

Antisemitic policies create a climate of fear that jeopardizes Jewish families like the Treves and Davide's. Identity becomes a liability as persecution intensifies and social circles close ranks. Personal loyalties fracture under political pressure, leading to irrevocable consequences. The ending notes remind that many in Ferrara's Jewish community would perish in concentration camps.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 13:26

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The Gold Rimmed Glasses Summary

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The Gold Rimmed Glasses Timeline

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