[1] It was screened at the Venice Film Festival, in which it won the Leone di San Marco Plate.

[2] Set in Italy in the early 1860s, during the unification (Risorgimento) of the various Italian states into one kingdom, Testadirapa addresses the issue of compulsory education (usually in government-run schools): a concept that has just been introduced by the new national government in the name of the King.

(The concept of the "King of Italy" is often mentioned in the film, because in that time and place, it was a new idea — as was compulsory education.)

At Tonio's trial, he is sentenced to six months imprisonment — long enough for his son to complete most of his first year of school under the care of a kindly young woman teacher.

On his release at the end of his sentence, Tonio stops by the school for a friendly chat with the teacher, then arrives home where he sees his son practicing his penmanship.