The Circumstance

This family drama is a highly personal vision by Italian writer/director/cameraman Ermanno Olmi. It details a summer in the life of the family of a prosperous businessman and his wife.

However, there are ominous signs in his life: his company may let him go, his wife finds the family uninvolving, and his son and daughter are now old enough to be independent and somewhat self-centered. His wife finds solace in caring for a young accident victim, his son finds solace in his inventions and in his wife and new child, and the young daughter (who dislikes her mother) in her newfound sense of romance.