AllMovie

A widowed plumber who is struggling to raise his two teenage daughters falls for a starving artist who can't make the rent in this magic realist romance set in metropolitan Italy. While working-class father Leo holds imaginary conversations with the specter of his late wife, aspiring artist Diana is doing her best to steer clear of her eccentric landlord. When Leo learns that his daughter has unwittingly become an internet porn star, he pays a visit to pompous lawyer Malaffano in order to explore his legal options. It's there that Leo crosses patch with penniless artist Diana, who might actually be able to pay the rent this month if she manages to finish the extravagant fresco on the overbearing attorney's wall. Meanwhile, Diana's landlord Amanzio spends most of his days discussing the I.Q. of birds with his bespectacled friend Elia, and a stoic statue of Commander Giuseppe Garibaldi laments the moral breakdown of contemporary Italian society.