The noir atmosphere of this film couples well with the grotesque characteristics of Peppino (Ernesto Mahieux), his unusual taxidermy job, his murky relationship with the Camorra and his toxic, ambiguous attachment to Valerio. The main setting is Castelvolturno, in the province of Caserta, in particular the area on the Domizia coastline where the Villaggio Coppola, an example of unlicensed real-estate speculation, is located, whose towers, today demolished as part of a reclaiming project, are all that remains of a utopian dream of creating a famous tourist destination. The other, equally dark, setting is Cremona: here, amidst the fog of the Padana plain and the bays of the river Po, Valerio meets Deborah and cultivates another utopia, of building a future with his woman.
The noir atmosphere of this film couples well with the grotesque characteristics of Peppino (Ernesto Mahieux), his unusual taxidermy job, his murky relationship with the Camorra and his toxic, ambiguous attachment to Valerio. The main setting is Castelvolturno, in the province of Caserta, in particular the area on the Domizia coastline where the Villaggio Coppola, an example of unlicensed real-estate speculation, is located, whose towers, today demolished as part of a reclaiming project, are all that remains of a utopian dream of creating a famous tourist destination. The other, equally dark, setting is Cremona: here, amidst the fog of the Padana plain and the bays of the river Po, Valerio meets Deborah and cultivates another utopia, of building a future with his woman.
Peppino, a short, stocky taxidermist in his fifties, hires as his assistant Valerio, a tall, good-looking young man of fragile personality, and seduces him, initiating him into a life of excess. Their toxic and claustrophobic relationship runs into trouble when Valerio meets Deborah.
