AllMovie

Italian director Michele Placido explores the legendary -- yet brief -- affair that occurred between writers Dino Campana and Sibilla Aleramo in the early part of the 20th century in his 2002 romantic drama, A Journey of Love. Early Italian feminist Sibilla Aleramo (played by Laura Morante) endured a forced marriage to an abusive husband due to an unexpected pregnancy at the age of 16. Eventually, she left her husband -- only to also lose all contact with her son due to her husband's spitefulness. These formative years enabled Sibilla to develop a literary voice, as she moved from city to city and began building a reputation not only as a fine writer, but also as a prodigious lover. At the age of 40, Sibilla met the somewhat younger and certainly more unconventional Dino Campana (Stefano Accorsi) and the duo embarked on a notoriously self-destructive and intense two year affair. A Journey of Love was an official competing selection in the 2002 Venice Film Festival and won Accorsi the Volpi Cup from the Festival Jury for Best Male Actor.