Early 20th century, in the Ughetto family's home village, Ughettera, Northern Italy. Life in the region had become very difficult and the Ughettos dreamed of a better life abroad. Legend has it that Luigi Ughetto crossed the Alps and started a new life in France, thus changing his beloved family's destiny forever. His grandson retraces their story.
Not just another documentary on the French resistance movement, this film focuses on one particular group of underground fighters in France: those from Eastern Europe. Many were Jews and all had fled their native countries before the war broke out. They were among the most staunch and fearless enemies of fascism, as shown here in personal interviews and memoirs of war-time experiences. But the most famous of these immigrants were 23 who were rounded up among several hundred Parisians in 1943, tried for their activities, and executed -- all were immigrants under the leadership of the Armenian poet Manouchian. After their execution, Paris was papered with posters decrying these 23 martyrs as "foreign communists."
It's the story of two slightly crazy guys who are forced to leave their town, where the annual Gooseberry Days celebration is the biggest attraction, and go to London for work. To say, however, that the tour doesn't go according to plan would be a very mild description of what happens next. The protagonists get separated at the very beginning as a result of a gnarled party. The journey that follows is woven with a plethora of marvelous characters. The viewer will find among them: truckers, gypsy camper traders, anarchist squatters, recidivists hiding from the Polish justice system or go-go club employees.
