In plain view is a realistic comedy that tells the story of a present day southern Italian family: the Gagliardi. They live in different parts of Italy: Rosa, the eldest daughter, is married with two children, she never cries, she lives and works in Bari, because she has chosen to stay in her hometown. Tommaso is single, has a clothes shop, lives in Bari; he does not ask himself any questions and resolves his problems his way: postponing.
Alberto is married and lives in Milan. He spits judgements on the uncivilized south and about the possibilities offered by the north of Italy, but in his heart he misses his hometown and his relatives. His wife is pregnant, but they have decided not to tell anybody for superstitious reasons, as the previous pregnancy had ended in a miscarriage. Patrizia, the youngest of the Gagliardi brothers, lives in Rome among great difficulties. She has a superficial relationship; she is a free-lance journalist and has distanced herself from her hometown. The Gagliardi family meets in Bari for the death of the head of the family. Their father had only one wish: not to be buried under ground. So the brothers start looking for a tomb, they are lead by energetic Rosa. After various problems, at some point Rosa even thinks about burying her father herself in the countryside, the Gagliardi brothers finally manage to find a tomb. The search of the right tomb for their dead father is a pretext to develop the relationship among the brothers and their individual relationships with their roots. In fact, Rosa will finally manage to cry and live her choice of staying in her hometown as a happy one. Alberto decides to go back to Bari, so that his child can be surrounded by sincere love. Tommaso will find a way to manage his shop successfully. Patrizia, after breaking up with her superficial boy friend, chooses to go even further away and flies to London. In this film, the father’s death has a strong metaphorical value; it represents the death of the feeling of belonging to one’s own homeland, which sometimes cannot keep its children. However, in the end, the father’s death, after a harsh confrontation among the brothers, will reunite the family together and with the city. This is a story of values and feelings moving and intertwining in a context, Bari, but its emblematic values goes well beyond the beauty of the city to include all of southern Italy. The south here is seen as the sirens’ call for those living far away. Some people perceive this song as a fatal and cursed call, like an umbilical cord that they cannot break. Others let themselves go with it, because it is so sweet, so simple and almost natural.