Andrei Gorchakov, accompanied by guide and translator Eugenia, is traveling through Italy researching the life of an 18th-century Russian composer. In an ancient spa town, he meets the lunatic Domenico, who had imprisoned his own family in his house for seven years to protect them from the evils of the world. Andrei is drawn to Domenico after noticing some deep truth in his performance. In a series of dreams, the poet's nostalgia for his homeland and longing for his wife, his ambivalent feelings for Eugenia and Italy, and his sense of kinship with Domenico become intertwined.
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Andrei Gorchakov, accompanied by guide and translator Eugenia, is traveling through Italy researching the life of an 18th-century Russian composer. In an ancient spa town, he meets the lunatic Domenico, who had imprisoned his own family in his house for seven years to protect them from the evils of the world. Andrei is drawn to Domenico after noticing some deep truth in his performance. In a series of dreams, the poet's nostalgia for his homeland and longing for his wife, his ambivalent feelings for Eugenia and Italy, and his sense of kinship with Domenico become intertwined.
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