A young Sicilian soldier named Pietro has carried his injured comrade Attilio all the way back to his mountain home. Hailed as a hero, Pietro is furnished with the best the village can provide. As a rare newcomer, Pietro is much gossiped about but keeps to himself. He catches the eye of Lucia, the eldest daughter of the stern village schoolteacher, and soon the two are gently flirting and falling in love. This seemingly simple pairing of two young hearts sets off a sweeping series of events that shakes the village, uncapping age-old misogyny, intolerance, and narrowness with tragic results.
"Vermiglio is a landscape of the soul, a “family lexicon” that lives inside me, on the threshold of the unconscious, an act of love for my father, his family and their small village. Travelling through a personal time, it wants to pay homage to a collective memory." (Maura Delpero)