[2] The plot of the film is a flashback by Gabriele Rossetti, a young teacher who returns to Bari upon the death of his father Ernesto.

Ernesto Rossetti was the stationmaster in the small Apulian village of San Vito dei Normanni.

He copied Cézanne's work, neglecting the family especially Gabriele, who began to grow afraid of him and hate him.

On his son's birthday, Ernesto showed the local art critic the new picture; and he again negatively commented the work, stirring up Ernesto's wrath, giving an inconvenient shock to his son Gabriele.

When Gabriele grew up, he eventually discovered that Ernesto had deceived everyone with the second painting, which he replaced with the original of Paul Cézanne, in order to prove the deceit of the villagers and the critic.