Before Us is taken from the novel of the same name by Giorgio Fontana, published by Sellerio. The story follows the Sartori family throughout much of the Italian twentieth century, from peasant Friuli to industrial Turin. It is a family saga that tells how history enters the daily lives of ordinary people.
The Rai series takes up the structure of the book and maintains its setting: an imaginary family that goes through wars, social changes and personal transformations.
Is it a true story?
It’s not a true story in the strict sense, the Sartoris didn’t exist. However, the inspiration comes from a real event: the author’s great-grandfather, during the retreat from Caporetto in 1917, took refuge with a Friulian family, got his daughter pregnant and then fled. From there began a royal lineage that Fontana used as an initial starting point.
The author himself clarified that the novel is not the story of his family. It is a work of fiction that uses a true episode as a starting point. The truth lies more in human emotions and dynamics than in precise historical facts.
From book to series
The fiction follows the same time frame as the novel: from 1917 to the Seventies. It tells the story of three generations dealing with war, fascism, the Resistance, the post-war period, the economic boom and social tensions.
For television needs, some parts have been simplified or made more direct. The characters are followed more closely on an emotional level and some situations are constructed to have a greater narrative impact, but the general sense remains faithful to the book.
Nadia remains a central figure, as in the novel. It is the point of balance of the family, a strong and concrete presence, linked to daily care and resistance.
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Before us
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The weight of History
The series shows how historical events influence the lives of the characters: the poverty of Friuli at war, the choices during fascism, the division of the Second World War, the work in the factories of Turin, the cultural changes of the sixties and seventies. Everything passes through simple gestures and family relationships.
The cast
Andrea Arcangeli plays Maurizio, a character marked by guilt and restlessness, Linda Caridi is Nadia, solid and determined.
With them there are Maurizio Lastrico, Matteo Martari, Diane Fleri, Romana Maggiora Vergano and others, who build a credible family, with conflicts, silences and bonds that are broken and recomposed.
What happens in tonight’s episode
In today’s episode, Sunday 11 January, Domenico is at the center. To demonstrate courage he enters a cave and is bitten by a viper. His life is in danger and the event once again brings out Maurizio’s fragility.
Meanwhile, the children grow up. Gabriele seeks stability and responsibility, following a path more similar to that of his mother.
Renzo remains restless and chooses to join the partisans, moving away from his family.
It is an episode that marks an important transition for the characters and better clarifies the differences between the brothers.
“Before us”: on Rai 1 the unmissable TV series that tells 60 years of our history (between world wars and workers’ struggles)
