Stasera starts up Rai 1 at 9.30pm Before usthe 10-episode TV series by Daniele Luchetti (The brilliant friend), which tells the story of the Sartori family, three generations of builders and destroyers. The family saga becomes a fresco of sixty years of Italian history, from 1917 to 1978.
From rural Friuli we move on to the Turin of the factories, from the two world wars to the economic boomfrom urbanization to the years of lead and protests. The series, based on the novel of the same name by Giorgio Fontana, follows the events of Nadia, fulcrum of the story, and of her deserter husband Maurizio. From their union Renzo, Domenico and Gabriele were born. The vicissitudes of the Sartoris become the story of a people in eternal struggle with the legacy of the past who lives with the fear of the future.
Before us series, plot and previews of the January 4th episode on Rai 1 and RaiPlay
In 1917, during the last years of the Great War, Maurizio Sartori (Andrea Arcangeli), a deserter on the run, finds shelter at the Tassan family farmhouse. Nadia (Linda Caridi), a young local woman, soon discovers the truth about the man, but nevertheless falls in love with him. The two decide to keep Maurizio’s identity secret, but he is tormented.
What haunts him is the Cjalcjuta dark presence of popular tradition which, according to legend, crushes the chest of those who have committed serious crimes. At the end of the conflict, Nadia discovers that she is expecting a childbut the news shocks Maurizio, who is unable to face the responsibility and chooses to walk away.
Two years later, Nadia refuses to give in to abandonment. After a difficult period, she manages to find Maurizio again: the two get married and move to the village with little Gabriele. Maurizio finds work as a worker and forms a strong bond with the partisan Leone (Fausto Maria Sciarappa), but both are arrested during a clash with the fascists.
Linda Caridi and Andrea Arcangeli in “Before us”. (Photo Antonio Faccilongo)
When questioned, Maurizio denies his past as a deserter. Meanwhile, Nadia gives birth to her second son, Domenico. The family balance is precarious: Maurizio, increasingly crushed by guilt and fatigue, takes refuge in alcoholforcing his wife to work for a wealthy family. The third child, Renzo, is also born. Years pass, and when Domenico is eight years old he risks his life after being bitten by a viper, an event that once again puts the family’s estate to the test.
Before us: the cast and characters
Linda Caridi plays Nadia Tassana dreamer who believes in the future despite the horrors of the Great War. When he knocks on his door Maurizio Sartori (Andrea Arcageli), a tired young soldier and desertercannot fail to welcome it. This secret will unite them forever (they will have three children). Their life together will not be easy, but Nadia will find a way to recover in every circumstance. Maurizio will carry within himself a guilt that will torment him for the rest of his life and which he will pass on to his children and grandchildren.
Gabriele Sartori (Maurizio Lastrico) is the eldest son of Nadia and Maurizio. Gabriele is a dreamer like his mother, he will fall in love with Margherita (Diane Fleri). He is an attentive father towards his two children, Eloisa (Romana Maggiora Vergano) and Davide (Lorenzo Aloi). Domenico (Luca Di Sessa) and Renzo (Matteo Martari) are the other children of Nadia and Maurizio. The first is a fragile boy who has a propensity towards the disadvantaged. In fact, he left for Africa during World War II.
Renzo, on the other hand, is reckless like his father, until he meets Teresa (Benedetta Cimatti), with whom he will have two children: Diana (Ginevra Francesconi) and Libero (Luca Nozzoli). In reality there is also Luigi (Andrea Palma), conceived by mistake as a boy and whom Renzo will only meet as an adult.
Linda Caridi and Andrea Arcangeli. (Photo Antonio Faccilongo)
Where the series was filmed
The series Before us is set mainly among the evocative mountains of Pordenonewhere the story of Nadia Tassan takes place, the Friulian peasant at the center of the story. Filming took place in Cimolais, among the woods and paths of Val Cimolianathe Cellina road, Villa Iachia, in the municipality of Ruda and the Buscada quarry, located in Val Zemola.
The locations are mostly in Friuli and partly in Venetothey touch the center of Feltre (Belluno) and the Serravalle district in Vittorio Veneto (Treviso). Over the course of the episodes the story moves to the Turin of the factories and to some iconic areas of the Piedmontese capital: from Piazza Castello to the Baratti&Milano café, from Piazza Carlo Alberto to the National Museum of the Italian Risorgimentoor, at the Umberto I Gallery. Some Piedmontese municipalities were involved such as Venaria Reale, Carignano and Borgo Cornalese.