WWII is the backdrop to this story, and certainly war is the great disruptor in people's lives, but it is not the only one.
So we have two people very much in love and one gets dragged off to 'serve his country' (that it is a misbegotten adventure in alliance with nazism makes it even worse, as the protagonists would never embrace nazi values). And he doesn't come back. But his wife senses he is still alive and embarks on a mission to find him.
Sadly she does, only to find he's in a new life, with another woman and their daughter. He had total amnesia when the girl rescued him from the Ukrainian winter and only little details (like his name) had come back to him since then. Broken hearted at having lost her great love, she flees back to Italy. But the brief glimpse he had of her starts to bring back memories of their relationship flooding back and he is unable to settle his seething mind.
So he decides to go to Italy - there are some very touching moments when his Ukrainian wife questions whether he doesn't want her any more - she has done nothing wrong, quite the opposite, and they were leading a happy family life - and later helps him get a visa.
Overcoming difficulties, he manages to talk to his Italian wife and they realise their love never died. But she has also moved on now, living with another man and mother of their child (played by her real baby son with Carlo Ponti).
This is the key moment of the film, reminiscent of the self-sacrifice in Casablanca, as they realise they have responsibilities to other people now - their respective spouses and children - and must sacrifice being together, for the greater good. At least they have full knowledge of their rich mutual love to sustain them.
So we have two people very much in love and one gets dragged off to 'serve his country' (that it is a misbegotten adventure in alliance with nazism makes it even worse, as the protagonists would never embrace nazi values). And he doesn't come back. But his wife senses he is still alive and embarks on a mission to find him.
Sadly she does, only to find he's in a new life, with another woman and their daughter. He had total amnesia when the girl rescued him from the Ukrainian winter and only little details (like his name) had come back to him since then. Broken hearted at having lost her great love, she flees back to Italy. But the brief glimpse he had of her starts to bring back memories of their relationship flooding back and he is unable to settle his seething mind.
So he decides to go to Italy - there are some very touching moments when his Ukrainian wife questions whether he doesn't want her any more - she has done nothing wrong, quite the opposite, and they were leading a happy family life - and later helps him get a visa.
Overcoming difficulties, he manages to talk to his Italian wife and they realise their love never died. But she has also moved on now, living with another man and mother of their child (played by her real baby son with Carlo Ponti).
This is the key moment of the film, reminiscent of the self-sacrifice in Casablanca, as they realise they have responsibilities to other people now - their respective spouses and children - and must sacrifice being together, for the greater good. At least they have full knowledge of their rich mutual love to sustain them.