Lives of the Saints

The Lives of the Saints is a 2004 TV miniseries directed by Jerry Ciccoritti, written by Malcolm MacRury, and based on the 1990 novel Lives of the Saints, by Nino Ricci. The film stars Sophia Loren, Fab Filippo and Jessica Paré. Plot Part 1 Told in flashbacks, Vittorio "Vito" Innocente is a young boy living in the Italian village, Val di Sole, during the 1950s. He is raised by his beautiful mother Cristina and paternal aunt (zia) Teresa, while his father, Mario, has recently immigrated to Canada. Teresa is a widowed schoolteacher and strives to keep her family on the right moral path. She and Vittorio are shown to be very close. One day, she gifts him a book called The Lives of the Saints. While Mario is away, Cristina begins an affair with Matthew Bok, a Canadian wartime artist, whom Teresa disapproves of. Vittorio tells his friend Fabrizio, about catching Cristina and the ‘blue-eyed man’ in a stable and how Cristina was also bitten by a snake. This is seen as a bad omen. The townspeople discover Cristina's affair after she becomes visibly pregnant. They shun both her and by extension Vittorio, for her adulterous behaviour. Unaware of his wife's indiscretion, Mario sends for his family, leaving Teresa behind temporarily. Before leaving, Cristina hints to Teresa that she is planning to start a new life with Bok in Halifax and that does not intend to meet up with Mario and his brother Alfredo. On board the ship, she dies giving birth to a baby girl. Vittorio names the girl Rita, after Saint Rita from Teresa's book.