Early '50s. A solitary, disappointed, proud and educated old man meets and becomes the teacher of an intelligent, clumsy, middle-class, young would-be writer. An intense working relationship starts: at first, they are drawn to one antoher, but at the end their liaison becomes quite conflictual.
The film is inspired by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's biography and by his meeting, in 1953, with Francesco Orlando. The latter, together with Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi, had the privilege to serve an intense apprenticeship with the Prince and, later in life, became an expert in French literature.