La freccia nel fianco

In a breezy lakeside village a young boy named Brunello is thrust into a world far larger than his eight‑year‑old self can grasp. Caught between his aristocratic father, Count Fabiano, and his industrious mother, Clara Dolores, he shuttles from grand hotels to humble farmhouses, absorbing a patchwork of languages, manners, and stories. The restless energy that bubbles inside him—part rebellion, part curiosity—turns everyday lessons into daring adventures.

When the poised and confident Nicoletta Dossena, a teenager from a newly‑rich bourgeois family, steps into his life, their unlikely friendship sparks both laughter and tension. As Brunello navigates the tug‑of‑war between parental claims, legal battles, and his own yearning for stability, he discovers that the “arrow in the side” of his young heart may be love, longing, or the simple desire to belong. The opening act paints a vivid portrait of a boy poised on the brink of adulthood, set against a vivid Italian backdrop of class, travel, and family intrigue.