Novecento (1976)
Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci

Film Synopsis

Alfredo Berlinghieri and Olmo Dalcò are two Italian boys, born on the same day in 1901 but belonging to the two opposite ends of the social spectrum.  Alfredo is the grandson of a wealthy landowner and heir to a vast estate; Olmo the illegitimate son of a peasant, whose own grandfather, the peasant workers' leader, has continual run-ins with Alfredo's.  A rebel who has grown contemptuous of his own family, Alfredo befriends Olmo and they remain friends for many years.  As Olmo goes off to join the Italian army in 1917, Alfredo stays behind to assist in the running of his father's plantation.  When Olmo returns after the war Alfredo's father hires the cruel fascist Attila Mellanchini as a foreman.  Mellanchini has no qualms about applying his political doctrine to his treatment of the peasants, who in return grow to hate and fear him.  The only person who is able to stand up to this tyrant is Olmo.  After WWII, the situation is reversed and Alfredo finds himself on trial before a workers' tribunal for the ill-treatment that his employees endured over the previous decades.  Only Olmo can save him from execution...