A valley in the Lorraine region at the end of the fifties. Nearby is a small mining and steel town where the wooden shacks of an old prison camp shelter a community of migrant workers and their families. This is the city of Italy. Angelo and Amalia Pellegrini form a colourful and likeable couple. They are permanently in conflict, tearing themselves apart under the eyes of their five children. And their moments of tenderness are all the more moving. A bricklayer, Angelo is noisy in is proclamation of paternal power. But in reality it is Amalia who, with a firm and gentle hand, keeps the family going and tries to lift it above its miserable state. This series is a moving fresco of the turbulent period at the end of the fifties, and it is also a magnificient cry of love. The sacrifice and privation of the "mamma" have not been in vain. She has managed to save what is essential, has succeeded in integrating the family and has triumphed in her will to live in a better way.
